Correction

The Valley City Times-Record inadvertently listed the Delta Waterfowl Dakota Valley Chapter annual banquet at the Valley City Eagles Club as being on Feb. 20th in the headline of the story. The banquet is Saturday, February 27th from 5-10 p.m., as listed in the body of the story. This banquet serves as a fundraiser to directly support Valley City High School’s Trap Team.

We apologize for any confusion our error may have caused.

FARGO, ND – A new AAA travel survey conducted in January reveals half of North Dakotans are uncomfortable traveling during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The main concerns are:

• Fears of getting sick (55%)

• The number of Covid-19 cases (41%)

• New strains of the virus (37%)

The travel industry has been hit hard by this pandemic. More than half of North Dakotans (53%) canceled or rescheduled travel plans in 2020. When considering travel, half (50%) of North Dakotans are comfortable staying in a hotel, while 40 percent feel comfortable taking a commercial flight. The majority (92%) feel most comfortable traveling in their personal vehicle.

Treatment, Knowledge Fuels Optimism

With more known about the virus and how it spreads, there appears to be growing confidence among some travelers. About one in five (21%) North Dakotans say they are more comfortable traveling now than when the pandemic began – 14 percentage points more than when we last surveyed in October. Their growing confidence was attributed to:

•The implementation of mask use and cleaning policies (49%)

•More knowledge about how the virus spreads (46%)

•Less afraid about the dangers of the virus (38%)

•More confidence in medical treatment and outcomes (32%)

This year, just over half (56%) of North Dakotans plan to take at least one vacation of 3 days or more. A third (36%) of respondents plan to take multiple trips. However, nearly 2 in 5 residents say they will feel more comfortable traveling after receiving both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine (39%) and when cases begin to decrease (31%).