The State of the American Traveler in August 2023 —Travel Budgets and Planning Windows Shrink, TikTok & Podcasts Keeps Rising

 

As Americans report lower anticipated travel budgets, they predict there will be less price gouging by travel companies. Meanwhile, on the marketing front, TikTok and podcasting continue to grow their reach as resources for travel inspiration.

 

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 July 2023.

Current Sentiment Towards the Economy & Travel.

Noteworthy Concerns:

  • One alarming trend to note is the continuing decline in travel budgets. In January, the typical American traveler said they expected to spend $4,677 on their leisure travel over the next 12 months. Since then, reported travel budgets have steadily declined, now at $3,505—the lowest average budgets have reached since October 2021.
  • This month 46.2% of American travelers report that high travel prices deterred them from traveling in the past four weeks—this is the second time this year this sentiment has reached this (high) level. Similarly, the percentage of American travelers citing personal financial reasons as a recent deterrent to travel reached 38.2% for the second time this year. 41.2% believe travel prices are too expensive right now.
  • The proportion of American travelers who say the present is a bad time to spend on leisure travel (36.0%) exceeds the proportion who say it is a good time (28.9%)
  • Leisure day trips have risen at a higher rate than overnight leisure trips. A year ago, the percentage of Americans reporting taking leisure day trips and overnight leisure trips was about the same (overnight even outpacing day trips 38.7% to 35.8%). Now 45.2% of American travelers report they took an overnight leisure trip in the last month, compared to 54.4% who reported taking day trips.

On the Upside:

  • Fears of a recession continue to decline, reaching 49.4%, a 16-month low.
  • Despite a somewhat greater proportion who say they are worse off financially now compared to a year ago, American travelers are overall feeling better off financially now relative to how they felt a year ago. This month 30.7% say they are doing better now financially than they were a year ago, up from just 25.8% who reported such last July.
  • More than half of American travelers (50.4%) anticipate that they will be better off financially next year compared to now, the most optimistic they have felt since July 2021.
  • Nearly one-third of American travelers (32.9%) believe it is likely that the US stock market will enter a bull market in the coming months.
  • Although down slightly, excitement for travel remains at record levels (8.1 on a scale from 0-11). Just over 83% of American travelers have existing trip plans for the next 12 months.


Travelers Predict Less Price Gouging and Labor Shortages, More Crowding, Frustration & AI

In January we asked American travelers their predictions about a number of factors, predicaments and issues that impact travel, from geopolitics to technology advancements. This month we revisited these predictions to see what beliefs may have shifted in the past six months, particularly in light of current events and many tourism records set.

  • Slightly fewer now say that price gouging will be more common in the travel industry, at 62.6% from 63.8%. There is also a lessening belief that labor shortages will be a problem for the travel industry in the coming year, down to 61.8% from 65.1%.
  • There is slightly more belief that domestic travel will become generally more frustrating, up to 61.7% from 60.0% in January. Meanwhile, the belief that popular National Parks will be over run with tourists has jumped to 44.7% from 39.4%.
  • American travelers appear to believe that some of the latest technology will be transformative to travel relatively soon. Predictions that AI will start to replace some travel agents/advisors leapt to 54.4% from 38.7%, and predictions that the metaverse will start replacing some real-world travel jumped to 30.0% from 21.3%.

Marketing Travel: Tik Tok & Podcasts Keeps Rising, Travel Planning Windows Shrinking

When asked to think about how travel destinations could best reach them with messaging right now, 15.0% of all American travelers cited TikTok. However, it’s likely no surprise that Tik Tok is firmly tops with GenZ: 42.2% of GenZ travelers say it is where they would be most receptive to learning about new travel destinations, which is nearly double the percent of Millennials (whom continue to cite Instagram and Facebook their top travel inspiration sources) who said the same. American travelers who predict TikTok will become America’s top social media channel has risen to 40.9% (up from 38.7% in January).
Also notable is that more than one-third of American travelers now say they regularly listen to podcasts, up from 28.0% just six months ago. Nearly 20% of those who regularly listen to podcosts report that they listen to travel podcasts. (See our livestream on the rise of podcasts as a travel marketing tool)

Meanwhile, the average trip planning window has shrunk. In January, American travelers said they would take 11.5 weeks to plan a week-long domestic trip. Since then, that planning window has continued to get shorter, with American travelers now reporting they would begin planning such a trip just 9.8 weeks out. Americans who traveled in the last month said they planned this most recent trip 6.4 weeks out.

Hot Destinations

When asked to name the five domestic destinations they most want to realisticly visit in the coming 12 months, the top spots go to:

1. New York
2. Florida
3. Las Vegas
4. California
5. Hawaii

Texas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Colorado round out the domestic top 10. When it comes to Americans’ most desired international destinations for their travel in the coming year, these countries reign:

1. Italy
2. United Kingdom
3. Mexico
4. France
5. Canada

In addition to European and North American destinations, Asian and Gulf destinations also made the top 20, including Japan, China and Dubai—driven by stronger interest from Millennial and GenZ age travelers.

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.

Learn more about the latest trends during our monthly livestream.

To make sure you receive notifications of our latest findings, you can sign up here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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Travelers React to AI-Generated Travel Ads

AI has dominated the news for this first half of 2023 and using new artificial intelligence tools to help create ads has been all the buzz lately. So much so that NPR recently published an article and released a related podcast episode on how to recognize AI-generated images. The travel marketing space has been no different; AI has begun its integration with travel—including providing recommendations, booking, forecasting, creating itineraries, and now advertisements. Case in point, an AdAge article published in March explored how Lithuania Travel deployed the generative AI software Midjourney to make tourism ads for one of their campaigns.

With all the hubbub around AI and advertising, Destination Analysts decided to bring together a panel of travelers to react to AI-generated travel ads and see what we can learn about what travelers think about how AI is being used in travel marketing.

 

As marketers continue to experiment with AI, it’s imperative to keep our eyes on what really matters to travelers when it comes to advertising: unique destination experiences for real people.

 


Hot Takes on Visit Denmark’s AI-Authored Ad
Travelers were asked to view a campaign from Visit Denmark that used deepfake technology to bring famous works of art to life and employed a script written by ChatGPT.

All in all, this AI ad was well-received for the clever conceit of having highly recognizable works or art like the Mona Lisa speak directly to the viewer, but the animation of the deepfakes was slightly underwhelming to travelers. One person noted, “There’s work to be done to make the animations more fluid,” while another observed that some of the animations worked well but, for instance, the Statue of Liberty’s mouth did not move as well. A more seamless animation would have drawn viewers into the ad without distracting them with clunky visuals.

On the other hand, the script – combined with the famous artworks – was confusing for American travelers. While it was largely understood that most of these pieces are not located in Denmark, travelers were at a loss to comprehend why an advertisement about Denmark would spend so much of its run-time focused on artworks that are not actually in Denmark (with the exception of the statue of Hans Christian Andersen). The result was a highly mixed message; travelers wondered if the ad was about Denmark or about traveling the world. Rather than a clever advertisement showing famous, non-Danish pieces of art, travelers would prefer to see featured landmarks, attractions, or pieces of art specific to Denmark. As one traveler put it, focusing on interesting things to do and see in Denmark would have piqued their interest to visit the country more than fun, talking paintings. Playing with AI is fun and novel at the moment, but ultimately travelers want to know what they can experience in a destination that is unique and sets it apart from anywhere else.


Botticelli’s Venus Becomes a Virtual Influencer
Italy’s tourism ministry launched a campaign called “Open to Wonder” that features Botticelli’s Venus (of The Birth of Venus fame) as a modern-day virtual influencer, content creator, and tourism ambassador for Italy (Fig. 1). Throughout the campaign on Instagram, Venus is dressed in today’s designer clothing, taking selfies in St. Mark’s square, riding a bicycle in front of the Colosseum, and eating pizza on the shores of Lake Como.



Figure 1 and 2: Botticelli’s Venus as a virtual influencer for Italy

 

As part of the exercise, panelists viewed an Instagram reel created for the campaign, in which Venus showcases Italy as a travel destination.

Overwhelmingly, travelers said they would have preferred to see a real person rather than an AI person. The AI Venus influencer was described as “completely unrelatable” and “out of place.” One traveler noted that it was odd to see just a cutout of the painting, with no animation of the hair or facial expressions. Another argued that, even with more animation, the impact would have been minimal – without a living, breathing human to relate to, the ad garnered no additional interest in visiting Italy.

And travelers don’t just want any real person, but a lesser-known person – no celebrities, in other words. When it comes to sharing a travel destination, nothing beats someone real and relatable talking about their favorite places. Even a popular Italian TikTok-er or Instagram influencer would have been considered more appealing, and travelers expressed a keen interest in being able to see an actual human walking the streets and going into restaurants. As several travelers observed, it is always better with a real person.

The Future of AI in Travel Marketing
We are still in the early days of AI in advertising, but with major film studios like Marvel using AI to generate opening credits, and the sustained buzz around AI in the media this year, AI is here to stay and will have very real impacts on how travel marketing is done. With creative testing among travelers, travel marketers can continue to home in on best practices for employing AI and discover what works for their brand among their target audience. Even as marketers spark new creative ideas in how to wield AI in the most eye-catching (but relevant) ways possible, it’s imperative to keep our eyes on what really matters to travelers when it comes to advertising –unique destination experiences for real people.

For further opportunities for creative testing, please reach out to our research team at info@destinationanalysts.com to learn how we can best partner with you. 

Learn more about the latest trends during our monthly livestream.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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The State of the American Traveler in July 2023 — What Trip Spending Will be Compromised to Keep Traveling

 

Even with tighter budgets, Americans don’t appear to be sacrificing their travel. Instead, many anticipate spending differently on their trips, making compromises on food and dining experiences and shopping purchases over shortening trip days or even scrimping on lodging.

 

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 June 2023.

Financial Outlook Improves—Travel Spending Sentiment is Cautiously Optimistic.

  • Expectations that the U.S. will enter an economic recession in the next six months are down -6.2 percentage points from May. Similarly, the share of American travelers who are being careful with their personal finances due to concerns about an impending recession also came down slightly to 60.5 percent, compared to 62.6 percent last month.
  • Perceptions of the travel costs being too expensive have abated after two months of consecutive increases, with the cost of gasoline as a deterrent for travel dropping from 37.0 percent in May to 32.8 percent this month, and the cost of airfare as a deterrent dropping from 28.9 percent to 25.2 percent. In fact, the percentage of those who said that high travel prices have kept them from traveling in the past month also saw its first decline since March, dropping from a 2023-high of 46.7 percent in May to 43.9 percent in June.
  • This lessening of tension around travel costs is also reflective in travel spending sentiment, with the share of American travelers who say that now is a good or very good time to spend on leisure traveler recovering to 30.2 percent after dropping to 27.5 percent in May (which was a 2023 low). In more positive news, expectations for higher leisure travel spending in the next twelve months rebounded slightly in June (+3 points from May).
  • However, the impact of these positive indicators on Americans’ expected leisure travel spending in the next 12 months is tempered, with expected travel budgets for the next year currently averaging at $3,787. While an increase compared to May’s ten-month low of $3,719, it still remains well below the $4,318 average of the first four months of 2023.
  • Even with the ups and downs of recent concerns around a potential recession and high travel costs, Americans’ commitment to travel as a budget priority has continued to hold steady, coming in at 54.5 percent. Also, the average number of leisure trips planned for the next year—3.4–remains at 3-year high levels. Read more
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Globetrotting! The Latest Profile of the Internationally Traveling American

 

Summer is upon us, and you may have seen some of the headlines around the expected surge of American travelers heading to Europe for vacation. NPR reported that the U.S. State Department is seeing record numbers of passport applications, and Allianz Partners anticipates that this summer will see a 55 percent increase compared to last year’s season in the number of Americans traveling to Europe, with Italian destinations at the top of the list of European destinations. Considering that, according to Reuters, airlines were already seeing a boom in online searches for transatlantic flights to Europe in early spring, it’s clear that American travelers can’t get enough of overseas destinations in 2023.  

So, who exactly are these Americans traveling abroad in droves this year? The Destination Analysts team got curious and decided to delve into a profile of U.S. travelers who say they are very likely to travel outside of the U.S. in the next 12 months—what we will refer to as “American International Travelers.” What we found was a mix of the expected and the unexpected.

Starting with the expected, American International Travelers are significantly wealthier than the average American traveler. In fact, this past month, they reported an average household income of $109,910 compared to the $82,872 reported by total American travelers. On average, they have 20.2 days available for vacation in the next year, 4.3 days more than the typical American traveler. Furthermore, 29.8 percent reported to having more than 30 days available for leisure travel. They are more likely to be married (+12.2pp), have completed a graduate degree (+12.8pp), and be employed full-time (+6.0pp), indicating a higher level of overall security in terms of finances and lifestyle.  

Financially, their optimism about their personal finances runs high. American International Travelers are +12.3 percentage points more likely than the average American traveler to say they are better off financially now compared to a year ago (41.4% vs. 29.1%), and they also have a sunnier prediction about their household finances one year from now, with 51.4 percent saying they expect to be better off (vs. 46.3% of the average American traveler).

This optimism spills over into their attitudes toward leisure travel spending; over half (55.6%) say that now is a good time to spend on travel, while only 30.7 percent of total American travelers felt the same (Fig. 1). Moreover, they are planning to spend more than double the amount reported by total American travelers when it comes to leisure travel in the next year ($8,444 vs. $4,082). They also are more inclined to spend more on travel compared to a year ago, with more than half (53.2%) expecting to spend more on leisure travel this year (vs. 33.2% of total American travelers).

This financial optimism also means that high travel prices are less of a deterrent to them, and fears of a recession are less likely to impact their spending habits. Despite their expectations for a U.S. economic recession in the next six months matching those of the general traveler population, only half (51.7%) said they are being careful with their money as a result (-8.1pp compared to total American travelers). In fact, only 37.4 percent said that prices have kept them from traveling in the past month, compared to 45.3 percent of total American travelers.

So, where is all this financial optimism and wherewithal taking them? When asked which foreign destinations they most want to visit in the next 12 months, Italy was the top written-in response, unsurprisingly, followed by Mexico, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. In terms of when they are planning to travel for the rest of 2023, while the largest share of American International Travelers have leisure trips planned for June and July, they are also more likely to have trips planned for the shoulder seasons compared to the average American traveler, with over one-third reporting a trip planned for October (34.4%), and one-fourth reporting a trip in November (26.5%) and/or December (25.1%) (Fig. 2).

This aligns with psychographic data for American International Travelers, who are more likely to say they like to travel off the beaten path (+10.1pp), and they prefer destinations that are not necessarily popular with other people (+8.1pp), indicating a general desire to avoid heaving crowds of other tourists.

Given their overall financial health, perhaps it is unsurprising that over half (53.2%) of American International Travelers are likely to stay in a five-star luxury hotel property in the next 12 months (+22.6pp compared to total American travelers) (Fig. 3). Similarly, they say it is important to have at least one luxury travel experience on a leisure trip (63.1% vs. 48.5% of total American travelers.)

What is surprising, however, is that despite this inclination towards luxury and their openness to spending more on leisure travel in the coming year, Americans International Travelers love a good travel deal and place a lot of value on travel reward programs. Two-thirds agree that searching for travel discounts and deals is fun (64.9% vs. 51.1%) (Fig. 4). They also are much more likely to agree that they take pride in finding a great travel deal (81.7% vs. 69.6%). Nearly three-fourths (73.9%) say that travel reward programs are important or extremely important to how they plan their leisure travels, +22.5pp more than the average American traveler. So, while they are generally more open to purchasing leisure travel than most American travelers, travel deals and opportunities to use their travel reward points can be a key factor in where American International Travelers ultimately decide to go.

For further insights into American International travelers, such as what travel reward programs they’re using, what media they are consuming, what travel planning resources they use, and other destinations they are interested in visiting, please reach out to our research team at info@destinationanalysts.com to purchase your report ($2,500).

To stay up-to-date on traveler trends, sign-up to receive monthly updates and Key Things to Know from our State of the American Traveler Study here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

 

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The State of the American Traveler in June 2023 — Sticker Shock Results in Trip Changes Amidst a Record Summer Travel Season

Continued high excitement for, and willingness to prioritize, travel is driving another record summer—but travelers are shocked at the prices, and many are willing to make trip changes as a result.

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 May 2023.

Financial pressure continues to be felt, among steadily high levels of excitement for travel
This month we asked Americans to describe how they feel about travel in one word. The top response? Excited. The next most common response? Expensive. Indeed, Americans’ excitement for travel remains at record high levels (8.3 on a scale from 0-10). However, concerns around finances and travel costs have seen an uptick in the past month as the top deterrents to traveling. The share of American travelers who said personal financial reasons have prevented them from traveling more than they would have otherwise preferred in the past 6 months has increased from over 5-points in the past month to 38%. There have also been – albeit smaller – increases in the percentages of travelers who said that the price of gas, airfare, or travel overall have deterred them from traveling more in the past 6 months.  The percentage of American travelers who agree that high travel prices have kept them from traveling in the past month also continues to increase, now at 47%, the highest it has been to date in 2023. Echoing these cost-driven travel deterrents, the share of Americans who say now is a good or very good time to spend on travel has dropped to its lowest point so far this year, falling 3-points in the past month to 28%. Similarly, the percentage of American travelers who expect to spend more on travel in the next 12 months compared to the most recent 12-month period has also dropped to 29%, the lowest it has been since October 2021. Personal travel budgets have decreased from the over $4,000 average that had held since January to $3,719, the lowest reported travel budgets seen since July 2022. Despite this, Americans remain optimistic. Perceived household financial wellness remains unchanged from last month and, in fact, half of American travelers say they expect to be better or much better off financially a year from now, up 4-points since April.

The Tangible Effects of Travel Sticker Shock
If you are unfamiliar with the term, “sticker shock” is defined as the surprise and dismay a traveler might experience upon being informed of the unexpectedly high price of a product or service. Nearly four-in-ten (38%) American travelers said they experienced sticker shock planning their most recent trip. Over 60% of those who experienced sticker shock when planning their last trip reported that this came from hotel rates, while half named airfare as the culprit. Nearly 47% reported sticker shock from restaurant and dining costs and 42% experienced the same from entertainment, recreation, or attraction costs. On the other hand, cruise prices were the least likely to elicit sticker shock, with just 15% of these travelers citing cruise prices as a culprit. Unfortunately and importantly for travel marketers, sticker shock has an immediate impact on travelers’ considerations of a destination. In fact, over 60% of Americans who recently experienced travel sticker shock said it caused them to reconsider going to the destination they had their sights on, 26% said they actually chose to visit a less expensive destination, and 15% said they actually cancelled their travel plans entirely because of sticker shock. While over 50% of these travelers said sticker shock led them to find less expensive ways to travel or ways to save money, 28% resigned to the high costs and increased their overall trip budget.

Increased Awareness of AI Resources
In the three months since we first fielded questions about ChatGPT usage around travel, there have been marked changes in awareness of AI tools among American travelers. Back in February, only 28% of American travelers had heard of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. This has increased to a whopping 74% of American travelers who are now aware of ChaptGPT and similar AI chatbots. Want to learn more about AI and other tech adoption amongst travelers? Be sure to attend the webinar presentation of the 2023 Tech Edition of The State of the American Traveler with our beloved friends at Miles Partnership.


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.

Learn more about the latest trends during our livestream.

To make sure you receive notifications of our latest findings, you can sign up here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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The State of the American Traveler in May 2023 — Risk of Travel’s Declining Value Perception

Americans’ love for travel continues, but the industry should heed warning signs—particularly feelings of a declining travel experience and the value they receive for their money—which may challenge this devotion.

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 April 2023.

Financial Concerns Still Weigh on Travel Sentiment
The biggest impacter on travel sentiment over the last 13 months has been anxiety about the economy. Travelers aren’t feeling quite as good about their current financial situation as they were over the last few months. When asked if they/their household are better off or worse off financially than they were a year ago, just 29% said better, a 3-point decline. Meanwhile, 32% said they are worse off relative to a year ago. Thus, Americans reporting that the present is a good time to spend on travel remained at 31%, unable to recover the upward trend that had begun in January. The percent of Americans who feel the U.S. will enter a recession within the next 6 months increased to 57% after a 2-month period below 55%. The cost of travel remains a formidable deterrent. In this survey wave, 45% of American travelers said high travel prices kept them from traveling in the past month—on an upward trend since December and 3 points higher than at the same point last year. However, optimism about their future financial prospects has been trending upward. When asked if, in a year from now, they and their household would be better off financially, or worse off, or just about the same as now—46% feel they will be better off—up 4-points from the same period last year. Personal Leisure travel budgets may be down compared to earlier this year, but remain above where they were at the same point last year at a healthy $4,082. In addition, travelers prioritize having at least one luxury travel experience at a near high.

Americans’ Maintain their Devotion to Travel
The data confirms the love and devotion to travel is enduring. Americans continue to demonstrate record levels of excitement for travel, registering 8.2 on a scale from 0-10. The enthusiasm is across geographies, from East to West, North to South. Among those most excited about travel right now include, Baby Boomers, families with young kids, and affluent households. We track travel ideation and planning behaviors—from gleaning inspiration to booking tickets–and Americans appear to frequently be doing a lot of both right now. More than 37% researched travel ideas online and 17% booked in the last week. In fact, those that report no engagement in travel inspiration or planning in the last week is at a record low.

Warning Signs: Travel Feels Less Enjoyable, Value Declining
In January we asked American travelers their predictions for the year, and their wariness of the travel industry was glaring in response: price gouging, labor shortages, and an increasingly frustrating domestic travel experience were among the top scenarios that Americans felt would occur in 2023. This made us wonder if the record levels of enthusiasm for travel might wane in the face of the industry’s ongoing challenges. This month we asked American travelers to think back to the period immediately before the pandemic and compare that time of traveling to today’s travel. When asked if travel overall had become more or less enjoyable, while 25% say it’s more enjoyable, a greater 34% say it is less enjoyable. In terms of more specific aspects of travel, 28% say their ability to have fun and enjoy travel had improved, above the 19% that said it was worse. However, over 45% say the reliability of air travel had worsened, 50% say the behavior of other travelers had declined, and a stunning 51% say the value they receive for the money is worse.
This is a sobering but very important reminder for us as an industry to think about and address as we deal with a potentially challenging period economically.


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.

Learn more about the latest trends during our livestream.

To make sure you receive notifications of our latest findings, you can sign up here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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The State of the American Traveler in April 2023—Potential Travel Spending Reductions, Top Travel Pet Peeves

Current financial sentiment may keep Americans from spending as freely as they did a year ago, however record levels of travel enthusiasm keeps them planning trips. Meanwhile, pet peeves about the travel experience abound, from transit delays to snoring seatmates.

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 March 2023.

American Travelers’ Financial Sentiment and Its Impact on Travel
Will Americans curb their travel spending enthusiasm in the coming months? The percent of American travelers who report being better off financially today than they were a year ago is at 32%. While this is up 6-points from the end of 2022, compared to how they felt at the same time last year, it is down 2 points. Optimism about their future financial situation does remain solid at 47% and is up nearly 5 points compared to one year ago. Nevertheless, Americans express some financial fears that spill over into their anticipated travel behaviors. After being around 27% for the first months of the year, the percent of Americans who say recent inflation in consumer prices has led them to cancel an upcoming trip ticked back up to 31%—the level it was throughout Summer and Fall 2022. Right now, 55% believe the U.S. will enter a recession within the next 6-months. As a result, 60% report they are being careful with their money because of their recessionary concerns. Both beliefs have increased over the last month. As to whether the present is a good time to spend on travel, 30% say it is, however this is down nearly 8-points from the same time last year. Those that say travel will be a high priority in their spending over the next 3 months is at 55%—a drop from 61% reported during the same period in 2022. The percentage who says they will take more trips in the next year compared to the previous year dropped to a four-month low 29% and is down from 35% at the same period last year. Similarly, the percentage saying they will spend more on travel in the next 12-months compared to the previous year is at 32%, down from 37% in March 2022. Average reported 12-month travel spending has dropped to $4116 from $4667 although is still above March 2022 at $4080.

Travel Enthusiasm Keeps the Travel Outlook Healthy
Despite the challenges of the current financial sentiment, Americans’ excitement for travel remains near record levels (8.1 on a 0-10 scale). Nearly 85% of American travelers have trips planned. Despite the decline in their optimism about their trip volume in the coming months, the typical American traveler says they expect to take 3.5 leisure trips in the next 12-months, up from 2.9 reported at the same time a year ago. On average, American travelers say they have more than 15 days devoted to travel this year. Travel deterrents are down overall, notably gas (34%) and airfare (24%) being too expensive and too many crowds (12%). Prioritizing luxury travel experiences has hit a 12-month high 49.2%—nearly 10-points higher than at the same time last year.

Is engagement up on your organization’s marketing channels? It wouldn’t surprise us if so. With the summer season approaching, 80% of American travelers reported doing some travel dreaming or planning in the last week alone. Over 35% of these travelers said they researched travel ideas online, which is up from 31% who reported such at the same time last year. When recent trip-takers were asked how many hours they personally spent actively planning or researching their trip AFTER they arrived in their destination, the average was 2.5 hours. Note that Millennial and Gen Z travelers are above average at 3 hours, while Boomers are well below, spending just 1.4 hours planning once in-market. Across the U.S., Northeasterners say they spent 2.7 hours, while Southerners report a more relaxed 2.3 hours. Of those still doing trip planning post arrival, restaurant reservations top the list (35.2%), but lodging comes in second (26.4%), followed by attractions (20.0%). Interestingly, after hovering around the 11-week mark, this month the average trip planning window for a 1-week domestic vacation dropped to 10 weeks.

Top sources of travel inspiration continue to be websites found through searches, email campaigns, Facebook, Instagram, and other online article/blog content.

Americans’ Top Travel Peeves
Although we in the travel industry strive for our customers to have happy, rave-worthy experiences, clearly, they still experience annoyances during their journeys. This month we presented our survey respondents with a list of travel pet peeves sourced from complaints we had seen on the Internet (as well as our own team’s) and asked which they found most bothersome. While several of the top slots are industry caused—Flight delays (#1), price gouging (#2), dirty hotel rooms (#4), road construction (#5)—many are social-related or caused by other travelers: Snoring passengers (#3), people cutting lines at boarding (#6), people talking loudly on their cell phones, (#7) seatmates on airlines who talk to you (#8), rookie travelers at the TSA security line (#9), and drunk or belligerent passengers (#10). This certainly makes the case for “How to be a thoughtful fellow traveler” campaigns!


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.

Learn more about the latest trends during our webinar.

To make sure you receive notifications of our latest findings, you can sign up here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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The State of the American Traveler—Destinations Edition 2023

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.

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The State of the American Traveler in March 2023—Travel Tops Clothes & Restaurants in Spending Priorities; Emergence of ChatGPT

 

Americans will prioritize travel in their household income’s spending in the coming months—over home improvements, clothing, entertainment and even dining out in restaurants.

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 February 2023.

Travel Tops Spending Priorities
Given the deserved attention on how economic conditions will impact the travel industry’s performance this year, it is important to more fully understand how travel fits into consumers’ priorities. We know travel is something that evokes strongly positive emotions, but where does it fit among many other beloved things people can choose to invest in? So this month we asked 4,000 American travelers to think about how they expect to spend their household income in the next 12 months. They used a scale from “extremely high priority” to “no priority” to rate how much of a spending priority a number of products, services and hobby-pursuits will be. Domestic leisure travel took the top spot, with 35% of American travelers saying that it will be a high or extremely high priority in their household spending this year. It beat out restaurants (32%), education (24%), home improvement (21%), clothing & accessories (20%) and entertainment (18%). Additionally, over 20% of American travelers said they would be highly prioritizing international leisure travel and 14% said they would be prioritizing luxury travel in their household spending. (Note: Despite restaurants taking the #2 spot to travel in budget priorities, restaurants will still be key beneficiaries of travel spending…in fact, two-thirds of American travelers say they engaged in foodie-ism behaviors on a recent trip.) The prioritization of travel includes time as well as money. The typical American traveler reports having 15.9 days available for leisure travel this year.

Financial Concerns Still an Impediment But Travel Volume Strong
When asked what has deterred them from travel recently, 39% of Americans say travel prices are too high right now, 36% say gas was too expensive and 32% cite their personal financial situation. Yet while economic concerns continue to be an impediment to travel, travelers are feeling somewhat better off financially than they were a few months ago. Now 30% say their financial situation is improved relative to a year ago and 47% expect to be better off next year relative to where they are now. Although the majority of American travelers (53.6%) still expect the US will enter a recession in the next six months, fears of an impending recession continue to abate, sliding 10 points since last year. Fewer travelers are exercising spending caution due to concerns about a recession–down 7-points in 6 months to 58%. Importantly, travel volume remains strong—50% took an overnight leisure trip in the past month and 89% of American travelers have existing trip plans right now. The outlook for the next several months looks bright, as well. Americans’ excitement for travel broke last month’s record and reached another high (8.2 on a 0-10 scale). 43% of American travelers are back to prioritizing luxury travel, and average expected annual travel spending hit $4677. Looking at our travel sentiment indices, current travel enthusiasm has been moving forward in the past 2 months and expectations for future travel are at the levels they were a year ago. In perhaps another sign that Americans are feeling good, comedy unseated true crime as the top podcast genre among the 28% of American travelers who regularly consumer podcast content.

The Emergence of ChatGPT
With such notable levels of excitement, integration and adoption, ChatGPT (and other AI) appears poised to be transformative in many ways. In our latest survey, 6% of American travelers report having used ChatGPT for any reason—so far, 2% have used it specifically for travel inspiration or trip planning. But interest is emerging. Over 26% of American travelers overall (and 40% of Millennial-aged travelers) say they are “interested” or “very interested” in using ChatGPT for travel inspiration and/or trip planning going forward.


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.

Learn more about the latest trends during our webinar.

To make sure you receive notifications of our latest findings, you can sign up here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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The State of the American Traveler in February 2023

 

 

Americans are feeling the love for travel as economic anxieties somewhat abate.

 

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.

Learn more about the latest trends during our webinar.

To make sure you receive notifications of our latest findings, you can sign up here.

Have a travel-related question idea or topic you would like to suggest we study? Let us know!

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.

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