What should travelers expect in 2021? Here's what experts predict

There's only one thing that travelers should expect in 2021 with any certainty: It's uncertainty.

No one knows when the coronavirus pandemic will end. No one knows when authorities will lift travel bans. And while you can plan all the trips you want now, no one knows if or when you'll actually be able to take them.

It's all up in the air.

Most Americans will continue to travel domestically for the first half of the year, with 64% saying they preferred to vacation domestically, according to a new survey travel sentiment survey by Generali Global Assistance. But the results suggest that Americans will venture abroad again, maybe as soon as Memorial Day. More than half of U.S. travelers (54%) said they would feel comfortable traveling internationally six months after a vaccine becomes available.

"The average person's willingness to travel is increasing," says Chris Carnicelli, Generali Global Assistance's CEO.

"Travel will look different, going forward," says John Thompson, the division president for international accident and health at insurance company Chubb. "But it will come back."

Why? One simple reason: We must travel. Despite everything that's happened in 2020, there remains a "deeply human desire to connect, to socialize and collaborate, to maintain and strengthen family bonds - those underlying attributes haven't gone anywhere," says Thompson.