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Survey shows Kansas Citians looking to return to travel

Posted at 12:45 PM, Aug 25, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-25 13:45:39-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you’ve been looking forward to get back to travel, results from a survey released Tuesday by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce show you’re not alone, though not everyone is feeling the same sense of urgency.

The survey of more than 1,000 Kansas Citians showed that people are more likely to start making personal trips such as vacations or visits to family before returning to the skies for business.

According to the survey results, nearly 60% of business travelers say they have no plans to travel in the foreseeable future, while only 47% of personal travelers feel the same way.

City officials say the pandemic has made traditional travel data — data that’s used to plan services and operations at Kansas City International Airport — less relevant, prompting the need for the survey.

“The data sets we’ve historically used to support our air service development efforts are less relevant in the era of COVID-19,” Kansas City, Missouri, Aviation Department Director Pat Klein said in a release. “The results of this survey will be helpful as we work with our airline partners to restore air service.”

The survey comes as construction on a new terminal continues at KCI despite a now less-than-clear traveler environment.

Respondents of the survey said they want an air filtration system at the new airport that could eliminate viruses, an increase in touch-free technology and more frequent cleaning.

Several organizations, including the chamber, Kansas City Area Development Council, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the Kansas City, Missouri, Aviation Department conducted the survey.

Survey respondents were self-selected among members of the chamber and various organizations’ social media channels from Aug. 3 to Aug. 14.