Most U.S. travelers are careful with their money and have decreased their travel expenditures, because they are concerned about the possibility of an upcoming recession, a new survey shows. The concerns, though, haven’t stopped them from traveling: 8 of every 10 adult Americans have travel plans.
Those are conclusions of an online survey of 4,035 U.S. travelers Oct. 14-22 by Destination Analysts, a travel and tourism market research company. The survey findings reflect the views of all adult American travelers, Destination Analysts says.
A new survey shows that recessionary fears have caused U.S. travelers to cut travel expenditures, … [+]
Nearly 80% of U.S. travelers who say recession worries made them careful with their money have decreased their travel expenditures, the survey shows. It also reveals that the percentage of Americans saying travel is a budget priority — 54% — has reached a 10-month low, and the percentage saying the present is a good time to spend money on travel — 25% — is the lowest since Destination Analysts began asking the question in July 2021.
The top deterrents to travel are financial and cost issues, including expensive gas prices, expensive airfares and other expensive travel costs, the survey finds.
Despite those concerns, more than 82% of American travelers say they have existing trip plans, according to the survey. This month through January 2023, 58% have a leisure trip planned, 51% plan a trip to visit friends or family, 15% have business travel and 9% will travel to a convention or conference.
Monetary concerns apparently haven’t deflated Americans’ desires to travel to foreign countries.
International travel interest has “grown to a year-to-date high,” Destination Analysts says. The survey shows that 31% of Americans are more interested in traveling outside the USA than domestically — a 6-point increase compared to February 2022. Nearly 35% say they are likely to travel outside the USA in the next 12 months — a 7-point increase compared to April 2022.
The top international regions Americans are most likely to visit in the near future are Europe, Canada, Mexico and islands in the Caribbean, according to the survey.
