South African travel plans drop amid Omicron

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The drop is particularly stark for domestic travel. 17% of South African adults plan to travel domestically in March, April, and May, down from 25% of people who said they had short term travel plans in Finder’s November survey – a drop of eight percentage points.

Meanwhile, the number of South African adults with international travel plans fell from 13% to 9%.

Finder’s global editor at large, Angus Kidman, says that while it’s not surprising to see international travel fall amidst Omicron, it’s interesting to see domestic travel drop, despite optimism from restrictions easing.

"In the past month, the South African government has taken steps to reduce restrictions on non-essential travel, citing population immunity.

"However, our data suggests that some people are still hesitant to make travel plans," said Kidman.

"The percentage of people with travel plans has now dropped close to the levels we saw in early 2021. It’s likely increased optimism for travel in November was dampened with the Omnicron variant and associated international travel restrictions."

Finder’s Travel Index is an ongoing survey that has gathered responses from over 250,000 people so far.

Read the full report.