The upcoming travel season will benefit from the continued demand among travelers, as a recent study indicated that almost half of Americans are planning to travel this year.
According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 48% of Americans intend to travel during the holiday season, with travel intent between Thanksgiving and mid-January increasing across all age and income groups, suggesting a busy season for airports and hotels.
Despite the lurking worries about flight delays and cancellations, few participants cited these as a reason to avoid travel.
While meeting friends and family was the most cited reason to travel during the holidays, fewer people are limiting their travel to visit acquaintances. About 56% of Americans plan on staying in hotels, the 2023 Deloitte holiday travel survey said.
Here are the highlights of the survey:
- Travel intent on the rise: Travel demand is on the rise, along with spending on travel. The average budget for travel soared to $2,725, compared to $1,287 in 2022 when 31% of American travelers were planning to head out during the holiday season.
- Return of boomers: Boomers have been contributing to the travel demand this season. In 2022, they comprised one-fifth of travelers during the holidays, which is expected to be close to one-third this year. While embracing travel, their planned travel costs and number of trips remain conservative.
- Gen Z leads in shopping and social consciousness: Gen Z travelers plan an average of 2.1 trips during the holidays, ranking a close second to millennials at 2.2. This age group is leading a shift in travel planning. While 42% said they would use short social video apps to plan their trip, compared to 26% of millennials and 7% of older generations.
- Some pandemic-era trends are waning: Revenge travel seems to be dying down, as fewer participants said making up for trips lost because of the pandemic was their main motivator for traveling. An increasing number of travelers are looking to stay in hotels, and international destinations are set to be farther flung. A persistent trend is working during the holidays. One-third of travelers, which skew young and high-income, plan on lugging their laptops to their trips and working at least partially. Laptop luggers continue to take more long trips during the season, planning 2.3 trips on average and the longest trip prolonged by four days due to remote work.
- Sustainable travel: Millennials and Gen Zs are most mindful of sustainable travel and prioritize hotels with higher sustainability ratings (25% and 23%, respectively). This was the leading environmental-friendly travel choice.
- Finances a common deterrent to traveling: Among those not planning to travel this season, 38% said they were worried about finances, while 11% cited health and disruption as reasons (compared to 18% in 2022). While 18% of travelers are spending considerably less on holiday travel compared to 2022, another 18% intend to plan significantly more this year.
The travel industry is touching its cruising altitude this season, said Mike Daher, vice chair, Deloitte LLP and U.S. transportation, hospitality and services non-attest leader.
“Spending time with family and friends is even more important during the holidays, and Americans are embracing this tradition as they pack away many of the concerns that impacted plans last year. Travel providers who deliver memorable experiences during the holidays will have the opportunity to further engage travelers looking to plan additional trips in the new year,’ Daher said.
A total of 5,281 Americans participated in Deloitte’s survey between September 12 and 25. Out of this, 2,531 respondents who plan to travel between Thanksgiving and mid-January were categorized as holiday travelers.