Key Takeaways from Destination Analysts: March 8th Update on The State of the American Traveler

The following provides NYSTIA Data Analyst Ryan Maercklein's insight and takeaways from the March 8th State of the American Traveler webinar presented by Destination Analysts.

The presentation encompassed a variety of important topics including economic concerns, travel prices and inflation, and travelers’ spending priorities. 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 March 8th webinar are:

1. Economic Concerns: Finances remain at the forefront of many travelers’ minds; however, the anticipation of economic stability continues to grow.
   1. 31% of respondents to the survey feel they are in a better financial position now than they were a year ago.
   2. The maximum expected annual travel budget for travelers has increased $270 from the previous month, now $4,677.
   3. Additionally, 31.5% of Americans believe now is a good time to spend money on leisure travel, an improvement from 21.9% in December of 2022.
2. Travel Prices and Inflation: High travel prices have kept fewer people from making or canceling travel plans; this comes as the concern of a recession continues to decline.
   1. Within the last 6 months, high travel costs have kept 39% of people from traveling, high gas prices have restricted 35.8% of travelers, and costly airfare stopped 26.9% of Americans from traveling.
   2. High travel prices have kept fewer people from traveling in the last month with only 39.8% avoiding travel due to the cost. This is greatly improved from nearly 50% in December of 2022.
3. Travel Spending Priorities: Excitement for travel is at a survey record high, however, the younger generations spending priorities seem more divided.
   1. The prioritization of leisure travel to domestic destinations varies across different age demographics.
      1. When considering how they’ll spend their discretionary household income, domestic leisure travel was most important for both Generation X as well as Baby Boomers and older with 31.8% and 37.3%, respectively, considering it a high priority.
      2. While 35.9% of Millennials and younger also responded by saying domestic leisure travel is a high priority for their spending, it was trumped by both dining at restaurants (41.9%) and education (38.2%).