The State of the American Traveler in November 2023

Improving sentiment about their financial future and the economic outlook looks to be fueling an even more robust holiday travel season, with retail destinations likely beneficiaries. And looking to 2024, many Americans are already inspired to travel for April’s total eclipse. Plus, the rate of American travelers using AI tools for trip planning has doubled in the last quarter.

• Americans' current sentiment toward their financial wellness is on the rebound. Just two months ago 27% of American travelers said their households were better off now compared to one year ago--the lowest this metric had hit in 2023. Now, in a notable reversal, 35% say they are better off now compared to a year ago, which is the highest this metric has been in the last 2 years. Also up are Americans’ expectations of their future finances improving, with 52% now saying they feel their households will be better off financially a year from now. This also represents a record high last matched in July of 2021. Note however that despite these vastly improved personal financial sentiments, expectations of an economic recession remain high (53% expect a recession in the next 6 months, a figure that has remained stable since June).
  
• Still, many Americans aren't being deterred from spending on travel. In fact, 33% now say the present is a good time to spend on their leisure travel, which is the highest this metric has been in 2023. In addition, a larger proportion of Americans (54%) say that travel will be a high-budget priority in the next 3 months (+ 3pp since last month). Note however that reported annual travel budgets remain stubbornly below where they were one year ago ($3,785 compared to $4,314 in 2022).
  
• Travel volume remains robust. About two-thirds (65%) of American travelers have taken at least one overnight in the past month alone and 70% took at least one leisure day trip. 88% of American travelers say they will take at least one leisure trip in the next year and 82% already have existing trips planned. International destinations could receive many American visitors soon, as 37% of American travelers now say they will take an international trip in the next year (+ 7pp from last month).

• Americans' holiday travel expectations are stronger this year compared to 2022. When asked which upcoming holidays they will travel for, 34% of Americans said they would do so for Christmas (+7pp from 2022), 25% will travel for Thanksgiving (-1pp from 2022) and 17% will travel for New Year's (+5pp from 2022). Among Americans who have leisure trips planned in the next 3 months, over a quarter of these travelers (26%) said that shopping will be a primary motivation for taking these near-term trips.
  
• Among Americans who have leisure trips planned in the next 3 months, over a quarter of these travelers (26%) said that shopping will be a primary motivation for taking these near-term trips.
  
• As for expectations for spending on holiday shopping, 31% of Americans plan to spend more or much more compared to last year. 38% say they expect to spend about the same on holiday shopping, while 26% report they will spend less this year. By generation, Millennials were much likelier than others to say they would spend more on holiday shopping this year (54%), while Baby Boomers were the least likely to say so (14%). By region, travelers in the Northeast expect to spend more on holiday shopping this year (35%) while those in the Midwest were the least likely to be forking out more money for holiday shopping (26%).

• In total, 81% of Americans did some form of travel planning/dreaming in the past week alone. Among these travelers, 17% made travel reservations (+ 2pp from last month). 14% also researched travel ideas offline, and although this is still lower than the 33% who conducted travel research online, those turning to offline resources is at an all time high since January of 2021.
  
• When asked if Americans have used AI tools to help plan or prepare for their trips in the past 12 months, 16% said yes. This is double the rate who said they had used AI tools for travel inspiration or planning when asked back in June of this year. In total, 16% of Gen Z, 36% of Millennials, 10% of Gen X and just 2% of Baby Boomer travelers have used AI tools for trip planning purposes in the last year. Among those who have used AI for travel, the top AI powered tools used to plan travel include ChatGPT (65%), Trip Planner AI (25%) and TripAdvisor's AI-powered assistant (23%).
  
• Travelers who have recently used AI tools for trip planning skew heavily male in affluent two-income households, and very frequent travelers. 95% have traveled on overnight trips in the last month alone, including at least 2 leisure trips and 2 business trips. They are notably optimistic in their sentiments about their finances, the economy and their travel.

• With the upcoming total eclipse taking place in April of 2024, we asked Americans about their awareness of the event and likelihood to travel for it. Currently 34% were aware of the 2024 total eclipse. Awareness of this was highest among Millennials (39%) and Baby Boomers (36%). As for travel expectations to observe the phenomena, right now 29% of American travelers say they are likely to do so, which is highest among Millennials (52%) and Gen Z (31%). As for the states or countries they are likely to travel to (or within) to experience this eclipse, Texas was cited most often (44%) followed by New York (33%) and Canada (17%).

Source: Future Partners: State of the American Traveler. November 6th , 2023