There's no question that travel will look much different this holiday season compared to past years amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, TripAdvisor has uncovered some encouraging trends heading into the holiday season.

"After a challenging year, confidence in future travel plans continues to rise," said Christopher Hsi, Consumer Market Research Lead Analyst for Tripadvisor, pointing out that "70 percent of Americans feel at least moderately safe to travel this holiday season." Looking ahead to 2021, the data shows that flexibility and safety will remain travelers' top priorities.

Americans remain more optimistic about travel compared to the rest of the world. According to TripAdvisor's research, more than half of Americans (55 percent) plan to travel this holiday season, versus fewer than one-third of people globally (30 percent).

While Americans took far fewer road trips this past Thanksgiving compared to previous years and even other holidays in 2020, TripAdvisor projects that 70 percent of Americans will drive to their holiday destination this month, while 19 percent will fly. Despite being down overall, December air travel is up 7 percent from Thanksgiving, according to the travel website.

Unsurprisingly, most people traveling for the holidays will be doing so to visit with family and friends (45 percent). However, many are also understandably seeking some R&R in the form of a December vacation (39 percent).

Travelers appear to be growing more confident in the safety of restaurants and dining outside of their home heading into the new year as nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) plan on dining out at least once over the holidays, TripAdvisor found.

Almost two-thirds of consumers surveyed (65%) say the ability to avoid crowded places when traveling is now a more important factor in their choice of a destination than it was pre-pandemic. In addition to less populated places, travelers are more likely to visit closer to home.

When asked in October, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of travelers looking for accommodations on Tripadvisor indicated that they were planning to check-in less than 30 days out, up from 51 percent during the same period in 2019. With COVID-19 travel restrictions and requirements being fluid, it's understandable that many aren't ready to plan too far ahead.

According to a Tripadvisor Holiday Study survey conducted back in August, 61 percent of respondents said that they felt excited about the upcoming holiday season. What's more, 42 percent said that the holidays were more important to them this year than ever before.

While the travel and tourism industry has a long and challenging recovery ahead, travelers are optimistic that conditions will improve dramatically in the early part of 2021. According to TripAdvisor's research, more than half (52 percent) of Americans believe travel will rebound within three months.