Archive for category: The State of the American Traveler

Every quarter working with our smart friends at Miles Partnership, we take a deeper dive into important areas driving the travel industry’s management and growth. This further analysis allows Miles and Destination Analysts to provide additional insights towards evolving strategies. The Destinations Edition is where we take a particular look at our research on traveling consumers’ desires and decision making around how they perceive, consider and ultimately choose destinations. It is based on data collected in our monthly The State of the American Traveler survey fielded among a nationally representative sample of 4,000 adult American travelers each wave. Below is a summary of the key highlights.

American Travel Sentiment Heading into Spring 2023
The outlook for travel over the next months looks bright. Americans’ excitement for travel is at record levels and travelers’ reported average expected annual travel spending hit $4,677. American travelers say they will prioritize leisure travel in their household income’s spending in the coming months–over home improvements, clothing, entertainment and even dining out in restaurants.

Which Destinations are Hot?
When asked about their feelings about various destination types, American travelers express the most excitement for beaches (60.0%), followed by cities (47.7%), small towns (44.8%) and then national parks (41.2%). However, in a turn-around from the pandemic era, cities top the list in the reported number of leisure trips Americans plan to take to them this year. The average American travelers says they plan to take 2.9 leisure trips to cities this year, up from 1.4 reported in 2019.

Nearly half (48%) of American travelers say they have an active bucket list of places they want to visit. Domestically, these bucket lists most commonly include Hawaii, Alaska, New York, California and the Grand Canyon. Almost 1-in-3 (31.2%) American travelers report they are likely to travel internationally this year, and topping the international bucket list is Italy, followed by the UK.

In our latest survey, American travelers also rated dozens of destinations on a variety of different attributes. Best for food? New York. Romantic atmosphere? Miami. Welcoming to people like themselves? Orlando. A Place to Attend a Meeting/Conventions? Las Vegas.

Destination Inspiration: Media Resources
About one-third of American travelers overall report they used online video specifically for trip planning purposes. But when it comes to destination inspiration, Millennial and GenZ age travelers are particularly open to content they receive through video sources like TikTok and streaming services.

IMPORTANT: These findings are brought to you from our independent research, which is not sponsored, conducted or influenced by any advertising or marketing agency. The key findings presented below represent data from over 4,000 American travelers collected in January 2023.

A Demonstrative Love for Travel
With Valentine’s Day in its middle, February is a month often associated with love. Fittingly, love seems to be the feeling Americans have towards travel right now. Americans’ level of excitement to travel is at a 3-year high, reaching 8 on a scale from 0-10. In fact, fully 41% of Americans described their excitement for travel at a level 10! Right now, 84% of American travelers have existing trip plans, with one-third of American travelers likely to take at least one international trip this year. Half of American travelers report having 2 weeks or more of days available for their leisure travel. Booking behavior appears to also be up: 17% of American travelers said they made reservations or purchased tickets for trips in the last week alone. Keep reading for some of the factors driving the love for travel and more interesting trends.

Economic Anxieties Easing
Factors such as easing inflation and GDP growth seem to have abated Americans’ economic anxieties to some degree. Although the majority continue to believe that the US will enter a recession soon, 45% of American travelers believe they will be better off financially a year from now. The percent of American travelers who report that inflation led them to cancel a trip dropped to 27% after peaking at 36% in June 2022. Travel costs has abated as a travel deterrent compared to last month. Currently, 42% of American travelers say high travel prices have kept them from traveling in the past month, down from 49% in December. We are seeing a rebound in the percent of Americans who say the present is a good time to spend on leisure travel. At 30%, this is the highest it has been since last summer. In addition, over half of American travelers say that travel is a priority in their budget in the near term. This metric is also increasing, hitting a six-month high after a downward trend in the last half of 2022.

Increasing Rewards Points Usage with Increasing Travel Budgets
American travelers highly rating the importance of credit card and rewards points has climbed 6-points in the last month to 52%. Meanwhile, usage/redemption of rewards points for travel (primarily for airline tickets and hotel stays) has increased 5-points to 33%. Despite the increased valuation and usage of rewards points for travel, Americans’ anticipated average spending on leisure travel has increased to $4,407, up from $3991 at the conclusion of 2022.

The Forces Behind Travel Motivation
This month we explored what really fuels the desire to travel. Americans travelers surveyed were asked to think deeply about what motivates them to travel right now, and rated a set of motivators using a 5-point scale from “not motivating at all” to “critically important.” Quality time with loved ones, creating memories, experiencing new places, escaping the pressures of daily life and recharging are top tier motivators – about two thirds or more of American travelers cited these as very motivating or critically important. Second tier motivators include connecting with nature, visiting places of historical significance, food and the chance to expand one’s own perspective. Third tier motivators are concerts, the arts and shopping, with partying and bragging rights more relatively niche motivations.

Pets, Psychedelics & Other Noteworthy Travel Trends
Some other travel trends to keep in mind include:

• 24% of American travelers say they have brought a pet along with them on at least one trip in the last year. Of this group of pet-toting travelers, 44% say they “usually” or “always” travel with their pet(s).
• 22% of American travelers are interested in psychedelic tourism–traveling to explore the use of drugs such as ayahuasca or psilocybin
• 17% used a travel advisor or travel agent to plan one or more trips in the past 12 months

For the complete set of findings, including historic data and custom information on your destination or business, purchase a subscription to The State of the American Traveler study.

We can help you with the insights your tourism strategy needs, from audience analysis to brand health to economic impact. Please check out our full set of market research and consulting services here.

Wariness about the travel industry can be seen in American travelers’ predictions about what will happen in 2023. Yet they remain very excited about their travels ahead—from capitalizing on dream trips to enjoying more authentic experiences.

IMPORTANT: These findings are brought to you from our independent research, which is not sponsored, conducted or influenced by any advertising or marketing agency. The key findings presented below represent data from over 4,000 American travelers collected in December 2022.

Happy 2023! May this year bring you much joy, prosperity and, of course, many incredible travel experiences! We’ll continue to keep you covered with the insights you need on the hows, whys and whos of travel and tourism.

High Travel Prices Costly to Travel Morale
For the last several months, we have been wondering if and when Americans’ patience with the high costs of travel will run thin. This may be coming to fruition. Currently 45% of Americans said travel being too expensive kept them from taking as many trips as they would have liked in the past six months—now statistically tied with gas prices as the #1 cited travel deterrent. This finding represents a 5-point increase over the last six months. In fact, fully half of American travelers even say high travel prices have kept them from traveling in the past month alone. Airfare specifically being too expensive was cited by 30% of American travelers as what has put them off travel. In addition, Americans’ personal financial situations continue to concern them and impact their travel—40% say their financial situation kept them from traveling as much as they would have liked. In terms of other factors dissuading Americans from travel right now, the stereotype about Americans’ “always-on” work culture remains an inhibitor. One-in-five say they are too busy at work and 16% cite not having enough PTO. And as Americans headed into December’s peak holiday season, fear of contracting COVID jumped more than 7-points over the month prior to 25%.

Over 62% of American travelers agree that they are currently being careful with their money because they are concerned about an upcoming recession. Of these recession-cautious American travelers, 77% say that their reduced spending habits also target travel. The number of Americans feeling like the present is a good time to spend on travel has reached a post-pandemic low 22%. And while 53% say that travel will remain a priority in their budget over the next three months, this is 5 points lower than at the same point in 2021.

But do Americans anticipate the recession to be short-lived? Nearly half of those surveyed still anticipate that their personal financial situation will improve in the next year. Expectations to travel and spend more in the new year are at the same levels they were at the onset of 2022—a year that saw records smashed for tourism. And Americans are starting the year with strong enthusiasm about travel. 80% report high degrees of excitement about travel this year—a level that is also the same as one year prior. In fact, 79% of American travelers already have trips planned in the next several months and anticipate spending $3,991 on their leisure travel during the year.

Predictions about Travel and What Will Impact It

There are healthy doses of optimism and pessimism in what American travelers predict for 2023. After perhaps experiencing revenge-travel fueled pandemonium in 2022, there appears some wariness of the travel industry among traveling consumers. Further price gouging (25%), labor shortages (24%) and an increasingly frustrating domestic travel experience overall (22%) are among the top scenarios we tested that Americans feel are likeliest to occur in 2023. Interestingly, 13% predict travelers will sour on the use of home rental services like Airbnb/VRBO—a sentiment felt strongest among younger travelers. Yet despite some of this negative outlook, 23% of American travelers say they will still take a dream trip to somewhere exciting in 2023. Gen Z and Millennial-aged travelers, as well as those who identify as Black/African American and/or Latino/Hispanic are the likeliest to say a dream trip will come to fruition this year. About 16% of American travelers feel that more authentic, less commercial travel experiences will grow in popularity (15.6%), and just over 14% say they will be more proactive about reducing the impact of their travels on the environment. Over 30% of American travelers say with a degree of certainty that 2023 is going to be a great year for them personally.

Air Aggravations
Although our survey fielded just before the full Southwest Airlines operational meltdown, air travel was already losing share as a transportation preference. When Americans were asked about their foremost travel transportation preference, those selecting road trips increased by 4 points from October to 44%, while preference for commercial airline travel dropped 3 points in that same timeframe to 29%. While the possibility of flight cancellations declined as a travel deterrent between August and December, we will look into any further or longer lasting effects of ongoing commercial air service issues, particular what transpired during this holiday season.

For the complete set of findings, including historic data and custom information on your destination or business, purchase a subscription to The State of the American Traveler study.

We can help you with the insights your tourism strategy needs, from audience analysis to brand health to economic impact. Please check out our full set of market research and consulting services here.

IMPORTANT: These findings are brought to you from our independent research, which is not sponsored, conducted or influenced by any advertising or marketing agency. The key findings presented below represent data from over 4,000 American travelers collected in November 2022.

First…Happy Holidays! We wish you and yours much joy and merriment this season.

Americans Looking to Travel this Holiday Season—Still Open to Ideas
The holiday travel season is upon us and well over half (55.1%) of Americans plan to take at least one leisure trip between now and January 7th, and 29% plan to take two or more such trips in this timeframe. Although 47.4% of these holiday travelers plan to stay in the home of a friend or relative on these trips, 58.4% will also in paid lodging (23% at a 3 or 4-star full-service hotel, 15.3% at a budget hotel, 11.4% at a 5-star hotel and 8.9% in peer-to-peer lodging). On average, the duration of these holiday trips will be 5.3 days.

American’s top holiday season travel priorities include spending time with family (81.4%), relaxation (69.7%) and of course enjoying family traditions (67.7%). In addition, nearly a quarter will prioritize meeting new people (24.8%) and/or traveling outside the United States (23.9%). While 48.4% say these holiday trips are being taken to celebrate a specific holiday, 42.3% say at least one of their trips will be purely for vacation or a weekend getaway.

In terms of the types of destinations Americans plan to visit, small towns (32.7%) and cities (32.5%) will be most common followed by beach destinations (23.1%), state/regional parks (15.0%) and theme parks (14.5%). And in good news for destination marketers, over half (52.4%) of holiday travelers say the destinations they plan to visit this holiday season have not yet been firmly decided.

Deals, Discounts & Rewards Gain Importance as Travelers Get More Careful with their Money
Fewer Americans now say that inflation in consumer prices has led them to cancel an upcoming trip. Now, only 28.7% say they have, which is down nearly 8 points from June. Similarly, the proportion of Americans who say they will take fewer road trips this winter if gasoline prices don’t come down has dropped to a low of 52.4% (which is down 16 points from its peak in June). Additionally, when we look at what has deterred Americans from traveling more than they would have otherwise preferred in the last 6 months, fewer are now citing the expense of gas (41.1%; down 6 points from July), airfare being too expensive has also declined (26.3%; down nearly 5 points since October) as has concerns over the possibility of flight cancellations (9.7%; down 6 points from August).

Despite these improvements, nearly 60% of Americans still expect the U.S. to enter an economic recession sometime in the next 6 months and therefore 64.7% of all travelers say they are being careful with their money now. In this vein, nearly three-quarters (74.4%) of Americans agree that travel deals and discounts are more important to them now compared to 6 months ago. Our latest survey also found that nearly 31% of Americans have used credit card points/rewards for travel-related purchases in the past 12 months alone, with the most common purchases being airline tickets and hotel stays (52.7% and 50.8%, respectively). Far fewer of these credit card point redeemers have used their rewards for upgrades to their hotel room (13.3%) or airline seat (11.7%).

International Travel Interest & Japan’s Reopening
Currently, 29.8% of Americans say they are likely to travel abroad in the next 12 months (which is down 4 points compared to October) with Italy, Canada, the U.K., Mexico, France and Japan being the most desired foreign destinations currently. And because Japan just reopened their borders to tourism for the first time since the start of the pandemic, we further gauged American’s interest in visiting this island Asian nation. Just over one-in-three Americans (35.7%) said they were aware of Japan’s border reopening and one quarter (25.1%) say they are interested in visiting in the next 12 months. Of these interested parties, their top drivers of aspiration for visiting Japan includes food and cuisine, history/heritage sites, arts and culture, unique activities, adventure and being a bucket list destination.

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We can help you with the insights your tourism strategy needs, from audience analysis to brand health to economic impact. Please check out our services here.

Climate change is on the minds of many American leisure travelers. In fact, fully half (50%) say that they expect it to impact their travels in one way or another at some point in the next five years.

Climate change has emerged as an impactor of travel decisions among half of American travelers. A recent edition of our The State of the American Traveler survey asked travelers if they expect that climate change will impact their travel plans at some point in the next five years. We found out that its on the minds of many, and not only because of volatile temperature changes. Travelers are thinking about long-term consequences too.

15.2% of Americans report that climate change will change how they travel. One in every five Americans believe climate change will alter the destinations they chose to visit (20.9%). The largest percent of respondents (28.5%) believe it will change the timing of their trips.

“If sea levels rise, I’d assume some shore destinations and islands would be affected. Already I was unable to go to a destination of choice as it was decimated by a very strong hurricane a couple of years ago.”

Many American travelers responded that natural disasters would completely deter them from planning a trip to that destination. Not only would a natural disaster force them to cancel their plans, but if the area has prior history of hurricanes, typhoons, or earthquakes, it makes the traveler significantly less inclined to plan a trip. Travelers are already experiencing the effects of natural disasters on their travel decisions: one traveler reported that the recent mudslides and wildfires in California makes them significantly less inclined to plan a trip, even though they have frequented the state in past years.

Destruction of coastal destinations is also a major concern among travelers. Fear of sea level rise make travelers feel a sense of urgency to plan a trip before cities are submerged. Others expressed sadness that once thriving national and state parks, their preferred destination, are being destroyed. One traveler expressed anger that their once beloved snowy destinations are “being robbed of their beauty.”

“I need to make sure my family and I are safe when we travel.”

Some travelers had specific examples of how climate change is pervading their personal lives and travel decisions. A common sentiment among travelers is an awareness that they are already changing the time of year they plan to travel based on weather patterns. One respondent explained that their family lives in a place they feel will be severely affected by glacier melting, and therefore they might have to stop traveling there soon. Another respondent reported that although they used to travel to Los Angeles frequently, the air quality has gotten so poor they can no longer. A third wrote that as temperatures increase in their home in Texas, they will soon be searching for cooler destinations and traveling more frequently during peak summer months. Plenty of people responded that the safety of themselves and their family while travelling is an increasing concern as global warming becomes more threatening.

“Climate change will make me more aware of my impact on my surroundings while traveling and try to minimize my effect on these destinations by showing respect for the environment to preserve it for future generations.”

Climate change isn’t just affecting where Americans travel, but how they travel. Many respondents acknowledge that the cost to travel will increase as certain destinations are more highly demanded. There is desire among respondents to be more thoughtful about their own environmental footprint by, for example, changing their mode of transportation to a train or boat. Others reported that they would be more attracted to sustainable regions in the coming years.

American travelers evidently think that climate change is a substantial factor to consider when planning a trip. In five years, will climate change be the number one influencer of travel decisions?