Understanding Traveling Behaviors Before, During, and After the COVID-19

The Reno-Tahoe International Airport, located in Nevada. Check them out here.

Client: Reno Tahoe International Airport

Project Title: Traveler Sentiment Survey

Background

We have conducted travel studies on behalf of Nevada-based advertising agency, Noble Studios, to help their client, the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, understand travel habits in 2020. We also conducted breakout analyses of this data, including comparisons of Nevada v. nearby-California travelers and leisure v. business travelers.

The Problem

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries including the United States placed travel restrictions on airlines. After the spreading of the virus was reduced, some travel restrictions were uplifted and travel resumed, but not the same as it used to be. The Reno-Tahoe International wanted to examine the changes in habits from before, during, and after the peak of the pandemic.

Methodology

We discovered travel habits by designing a qualitative survey that examined travelers’ travel frequency and comfort, if they were still traveling and why they were, their current employment status and business-related travel, and their desired destinations. This study was administered through an online outreach program through email to a database of respondents. Nearly 1000 individuals from nearby geographic locations were contacted, and their responses were aggregated and included in the study. As per company standard, the survey results were reviewed and checked for accuracy, and were analyzed using statistical analysis tools and methods. Cross tabulation, data analysis and data visualization were then used to uncover aggregated insights from the data.

The Result

This travel study was used in the development of strategic planning, and the insights were shared with the airport’s regional and airline partners as well. As a result of the study, we were able to help the airport attract more travelers, and even surpass the number of travelers than before the pandemic.

Due to the success of the project, we also conducted a follow-up study for the same client in Q2 of 2021, in which we compared how travel trends had changed between the two periods, overall and within the different audience segments.