Key Takeaways from Destination Analysts: April 12th Update on The State of the American Traveler

The following provides NYSTIA Marketing Analyst Ryan Maercklein's insight and takeaways from the April 12^th State of the American Traveler webinar presented by Destination Analysts.

The central focus of the presentation encompassed three main topics including travel sentiment, prices and inflation, and American travelers’ pet peeves. We would like to thank Destination Analysts for publishing this data and making it available for us to share.

The most significant takeaways from the April 12^th webinar are:

1. Traveler Sentiment: While over half of all Americans still expect the United States to enter an economic recession, how they perceive their own financial situations is more encouraging.
   1. 4% of respondents to the survey felt they are now in a better position financially than they were a year ago, a metric that has been steadily increasing overall since September of 2022.
   2. Looking forward, 46.9% of people expect to be in a better financial position next year with an additional 38.6% predicting they will be in a similar situation to the one they are in now.
2. Prices and Inflation: Enthusiasm for travel remains high, however, high travel prices are acting as a deterrent.
   1. High travel prices have kept 43.9% of travelers from taking a trip in the last month.
   2. We also saw a slight decrease in people’s maximum expected annual travel budget, now averaging $4,116.
   3. That being said, 84.6% of Americans rate their excitement for travel a 6 or higher based on a scale from 0-10.
3. American Travelers’ pet peeves: Some of the main pet peeves among travelers include dirty hotel rooms, flight delays and cancellations, and unclean public restrooms.
   1. Generation Z was most likely to consider dirty hotel rooms a pet peeve with 35.1% listing it in their top 3.
   2. Meanwhile, Boomers and older generations deemed flight delays and cancellations the most bothersome with 30.2% listing it in their top 3 pet peeves.