Report Overview
There was an uptick in travel in the U.S. In March 2023, 59% of Americans traveled, 4 percentage points higher than December 2022. However, share of international remained steady in March 2023. Increases in flight travel and travel to urban centers as opposed to the countryside indicated that Covid related changes in the travel landscape are reversing.
Although, some Covid related changes are expected to stick around. Remote work remained popular, with the share of respondents working fully remotely/from home at 38% in March 2023. Over half of business travelers reported that they extended their business trips for leisure purposes in Q1 2023.
Direct channels were found to be the major source of bookings for hotels and airlines. Share of direct bookings increased in March 2023 as compared to December 2022. Booking.com and Expedia hold the top spots for the most popular third-party websites for hotels. Hopper has rapidly risen as formidable competitors in the online booking space in a short span of time. Airbnb and Vrbo have been the star performers in vacation rental booking websites.
Even though an increasing number of Americans believe that the economic situation of the country will worsen in the next 12 months, more than half believe that their personal financial status will improve in the next 12 months.
Inflationary pressures exist. Yet while most respondents have seen the price of their day-to-day and travel purchases increase, just 5% of the respondents said that they will or have cut their travel spending. Given these data points, we are cautiously optimistic that travel will remain insulated from spending cuts.
What You'll Learn From This Report
- U.S. Travel Highlights
- Booking Trends
- Customer Experience
- In-Destination Trends
- Consumer attitudes to prices, and the impact on travel plans
- Use of sustainable options provided by travel suppliers
- Consumer Sentiment and economic outlook