Travelers may finally have had enough.
With revenge travel over and pandemic savings depleted, travelers say they plan to travel less this summer or forego vacations altogether.
“After two years of strong growth, the number of Americans planning leisure trips is declining,” one summer source said. trip report Insights from Deloitte.
The end of the second-quarter earnings season showed that major companies such as Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham Airbnb and Expedia.com Travel demand is also expected to weaken this year.
Travel is now ‘too expensive’
Americans plan to take 2.3 trips this summer, down from 3.1 trips in the summer of 2023, according to a Deloitte survey of more than 4,000 people.
The report shows that the number of people saying they are avoiding summer travel entirely increased from 37% to 42%. According to Deloitte, when asked why they stayed home, nearly a third of respondents said “travel is too expensive now” – an increase of 8 percentage points from 2023.
About 14% of those planning to travel said they planned to spend less, with short trips considered the most popular.
But another 19% said they planned to increase spending (down from 25% in 2023). However, this is not necessarily because they want to, but because they feel they must.
“The most frequently cited reason for increased spending was rising prices rather than more ambitious travel,” the report said.
Young people no longer pursue “fun”
Sofia Baig, an economist at data intelligence firm Morning Consult, said average spending on non-essential goods and services such as travel, clothing and home furnishings fell across the board this summer.
Gen Z and Millennials are seeing the biggest cuts in entertainment spending, including concerts and sporting events, according to one agency. July report Morning consultation.
These generations are also spending less on flights and hotel stays, Baig said, suggesting that cuts in travel spending may be a normalization of the market. After the revenge journey is over.
“Young people have reduced their share of the ‘entertainment’ budget,” the report said, suggesting they continue to pay for items such as personal care products, restaurant food and alcohol.
Generation Z is bursting into travel, with its oldest members entering adulthood at the same time that coronavirus-related travel restrictions are beginning to end.
Alarmingly for older travelers, a lack of funds is not hampering their travel ambitions, as social media and a growing number of travel influencers spur travel that past generations would have typically put off for years.
The role of travel in young people’s lives is also different. Younger travelers are more likely to see travel as an important part of their mental health rather than a casual splurge.
While their parents spent their 20s saving for wedding rings, homes and savings to cover six months of expenses, Gen Z’s mentality is more about seizing the moment than saving for a rainy day.
But Berg said this mentality has its limits.
“While travel may be ‘critical to their health,’ it’s not really as important as paying rent or buying groceries,” she said.
Still, they “walk the talk” and “spend a larger proportion of their budgets on travel than older generations,” she said.
A report released in April by travel company Hopper found that Gen Z, who earn less than $50,000 a year, spend 49% more on travel than seniors with the same income.
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