How Many People Are Expected to Travel for Spring Break This Year?!

Spring break season is quickly approaching.

Cinderella Castle

In spring, we typically see major crowds in Disney World as the parks fill for one of the busiest times of the year. And while wait times are rising and Disney extends park hours as March continues, there’s a good chance we won’t see a major swarm of visitors.

The U.S. Travel Association conducted a poll and found that only 12% of Americans are planning a spring break trip this year. That number has fallen from an estimated 16% just last week. The industry cites the collapse of travel demand due to the pandemic for these low numbers.

Crowds in Magic Kingdom on Presidents’ Day 2021

U.S. Travel Association Chief Executive Roger Dow says of the U.S. travel industry, “We really can’t recover until we get this pandemic under control.” The industry employed 16.9 million people in early 2020 and only 8.7 million by April that year. And although that number rose back to 13 million in January, the Association stated it’s “far from clear when demand for travel will rebound on its own.”

Face covering sign in Disney World

The group does believe travel demand could rebound by Labor Day at the end of May, due to President Joe Biden’s announcement that every adult American could have a COVID-19 vaccine by then. But with nonessential trips — such as spring break — currently discouraged, travel remains low right now.