Alcohol Travel Survey 2021 – Always Drinking on Vacation, Travel Decisions Based on Alcohol, Go-To Drink, How Many Drinks, Regrets

Our first Summer Travel Survey told us nearly 68% of American adults intend to travel this Summer. Additionally, our second Summer Travel Survey indicated more than 28% believe a beach excursion is the ideal vacation. More people are traveling than at any point in the last year. And, many are headed to the beach. We at The Vacationer have been known to enjoy the beach with a beer or two in our hands. This was evidenced by our recent trip to Miami Beach, Florida.

Therefore, we set up this survey to understand what the sentiment around alcohol is while on vacation. Does it influence travel choices? Do most people always drink on vacation? What type of alcoholic beverages is being consumed? How many alcoholic drinks are consumed by vacationers on a typical day? Have people ever done anything while drinking alcohol on vacation that they regret? Below you can find the results and analysis of our survey.

Do you always drink alcoholic beverages on vacation?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes. — 53.20%
• No, sometimes I intentionally take alcohol-free vacations. — 19.60%
• No, I don’t drink. — 27.20%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Survey respondents in the Pacific region were most likely to say they always drink on vacation. This region consists of the states Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, and Hawaii. A whopping 64.13% of American adults in the Pacific region say they always drink on vacation. Conversely, only 40.63% of people in the West North Central region said they did. This region contains the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Key Takeaway — More than half of all American adults say they always drink on vacation. The 53.20% that said this represents over 137 million people according to the latest census. This figure also shows us that 73.08% of American adults who drink alcohol always do on vacation. Interestingly, nearly one in five people said they sometimes intentionally take alcohol-free vacations.

Have you ever made a vacation decision (hotel, resort, flight, destination, etc.) based solely on the alcoholic drinks offered or available?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes. — 22.60%
• No. — 77.40%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Younger generations are more likely to make vacation decisions based solely on the alcoholic drinks offered or available. 36.22% of American adults aged 18-29 said they did this. However, only 26.17% of people aged 30-44 said they did. Also, only 17.92% of American adults aged 45-60 made vacation decisions based solely on alcohol. Lastly, only 8.60% of the oldest generation of American adults over 60 years old said they did.

Key Takeaway — More than one in five adults said they’ve made vacation decisions solely on the alcoholic drinks offered or available. The 22.60% that said this represents over 58 million people. This means more than 58 million people looked up a flight, hotel, resort, or destination and changed their choice based on alcohol. For many, this is likely astonishing. However, if you drink and you want to relax, it’s understandable you would want your favorite cocktail!

What is your go-to alcoholic drink on vacation?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• I don’t drink. — 26.20%
• Beer. — 19.80%
• Hard Seltzers. — 6.20%
• Wine. — 13.80%
• Cocktails. — 28.80%
• Shots or Straight Spirits. — 5.20%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Men were 2.5x more likely than women to list beer as their go-to vacation drink. 28.51% of men chose beer while only 11.63% of women did. On the other hand, women were 2.5x more likely to choose wine as their go-to vacation drink. 19.38% of females chose wine while only 7.85% of men did. Beer was the overall favorite by men. However, cocktails at 33.72% were top of the list for women.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 30% of American adults said cocktails were their go-to drink on vacation. The 28.80% of people that said this represents over 74 million people. This should be no surprise as fancier cocktails such as daiquiris and martinis are less likely to be drunk at home. Who wants to come home from work and put the effort into making a fancy cocktail? It’s much easier in that situation to open a beer or bottle of wine. On vacation when someone else is making the drink, cocktails are much more accessible.

How many alcoholic drinks do you average on a typical vacation day?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• 0 — 29.60%
• 1-2 — 34.60%
• 3-5 — 27.20%
• 6-9 — 6.60%
• 10+ — 2.00%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Younger generations are drinking more on vacation than older. 39.37% of adults aged 18-29 claim to average at least 3 drinks a day. Also, 43% aged 30-44 average at least 3 drinks daily. However, only 34.67% of those aged 45-60 do. And, a much smaller 24.74% of people over age 60 average at least 3 drinks.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 36% of all American adults have 3 or more drinks daily while on vacation. This amount is more than the recommended limit for both men and women. The 35.8% represented in this stat is over 92 million people. In fact, more than 22 million people said they average at least 6 alcoholic drinks daily on vacation. And, over 5 million American adults stated their average alcohol consumption on vacation is at least 10 drinks daily. Many Americans are drinking a lot while traveling.

Has alcohol ever made you do something on vacation that you regret?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes. — 24.00%
• No. — 76.00%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Men and women expressed equal regret regarding alcohol on vacation. 24.38% of men stated alcohol was a factor in a regret they did on vacation. Similarly, 23.64% of women said alcohol made them do something they regret on vacation. As age increased among respondents, people were less likely to have alcohol-related regrets. 31.50% of adults aged 18-29 said they did. 27.10% of people 30-44 admitted it. 22.54% of those 45-60 stated they had an alcohol-related vacation regret. And, only 12.90% of those over 60 did.

Key Takeaway — Almost one in four American adults stated alcohol made them do something on vacation that they regret. This 24% represents nearly 62 million people. 62 million adults admit that alcohol influenced a regret they have from vacation. Some people may want to consider decreasing their daily alcohol consumption on vacation.

Survey Methodology

This Alcohol Travel Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 500 Americans over the age of 18 were polled between June 28 and June 29. Of those surveyed, 48.40% were male and 51.60% were female. The age breakdown of participants included in this survey was 25.40% in the range 18-29, 21.40% in the range 30-44, 34.60% in the range 45-60, and 18.60% over 60. This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±4.472%. You can learn more about SurveyMonkey’s sampling method by clicking here.

The questions were chosen and the results were analyzed by the post author, Eric Jones, who is a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Rowan College South Jersey.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.