Despite the threat of COVID-19 variants, holiday travelers aren’t stopping this year, which bodes well for the Direxion Daily Travel & Vacation Bull 2X Shares (OOTO).

The fund focuses on returning 200% of the BlueStar® Travel and Vacation Index. The index exposes traders to global commercial airlines, hotels and resorts, resort casinos, travel agencies, online travel booking sites, hotel REITs, cruise lines, theme parks, and ski resorts.

As a Travel and Leisure article noted, data is backing travelers’ intent to travel despite the infection risks: “According to a survey of more than 5,000 travelers by vacation rental site Evolve, 32 percent of travelers are not factoring the Delta variant into their travel plans at all, and of the travelers who are, 46.5 percent won’t consider canceling their plans because of it ‘until much closer to the trip dates.’ If you’re planning on traveling for the holidays this year, here’s what you can expect.”

Market experts are also seeing that activity reflect itself in online searches. Overall, the trend is lower than pre-pandemic times, but still heading towards the upside compared to a docile 2020.

“We’re already seeing significant momentum around international and domestic flight searches when compared to 2020, up 155 percent and 212 percent, respectively,” says Matt Clarke, the VP of marketing at online travel agency Kayak. “When compared to 2019, however, both international and domestic flight searches are down, 52 percent and 43 percent, respectively.”

“The trend for last-minute bookings is strong,” Clarke added.

An Alternate Play on Air Travel

One of the major airlines, Boeing, comprises over 14% of another leveraged ETF that traders might want to look at for an alternate play on air travel. This is where the Direxion Daily Aerospace & Defense 3X Shares ETF (DFEN) comes into play.

DFEN, which is up close to 100% within the last 12 months, seeks daily investment results equal to 300% of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index, which attempts to measure the performance of the aerospace and defense industry sector of the U.S. equity market. Like the rest of Direxion’s roster of leveraged ETFs, DFEN gives traders the ability to:

  • Magnify short-term perspective with daily 3x leverage
  • Go where there’s opportunity, with bull and bear funds for both sides of the trade
  • Stay agile with liquidity to trade through rapidly changing markets

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