Current financial sentiment may keep Americans from spending as freely as they did a year ago, however record levels of travel enthusiasm prompts them to continue planning trips, data from Destination Analysts shows. The firm surveyed 4,000 American travelers in March 2023 and found that travel remains a priority but there are headwinds for the industry.
“I believe we have two things happening,” Dave Bratton, founder and managing director, Destination Analysts, said on a webinar today. “One is a tremendous amount of excitement about travel. People are still really stoked about getting out on the road and exploring the world they live in.
“But on the other hand, there’s a lot of concern about the future with the economy and recession,” he continued. “So there’s concern about spending money right now. These two forces are pushing against each other,” he noted, but added that the data shows a “fairly positive story” for the near-term future.
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 remained solid at 47%, and was up nearly 5 points compared to a year ago.
Survey respondents indicated that some financial fears may 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.
Bratton said respondents were split on whether now is a good time to spend money on leisure travel. “We were split 30% to 32% between it’s a good time or very good time and it’s a bad time or a very bad time,” he noted. The 30% figure representing respondents who say the time is good or very good to travel is notable in that it’s down nearly eight points from the same time last year.
Moreover, 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.
