The State of the American Traveler in September 2024—Sentiment Strong Heading into Fall, Record Travel Budgets, Safety Matters, Trip Planning Windows Increasing

IMPORTANT: These findings are brought to you from our independent research, which is not sponsored, conducted, or influenced by any advertising or marketing agency. The key findings presented below represent data from over 4,000 American travelers collected in August 2024.

American Travelers’ Maintain a Steady Financial Outlook Fueling a Strong Travel Sentiment Heading into Fall

• The financial outlook among American travelers has held steady year-to-date, with the share of those who said that their household is better off compared to a year ago at 31.8 percent this month (down just 1.1 points from last month). Though American travelers’ financial sentiment in 2024 has not yet registered peaks seen in Fall 2023 (34.8%), this August tracks well above the 27.3 percent recorded for this metric the same time last year, at +4.5 percentage points higher than August 2023. Generally, younger travelers--Gen Z (35.6%) and Millennials (41.8%)--are significantly more likely to say they are better off financially now compared to a year ago, compared to older travelers--Gen X (28.1%) and Baby Boomer (26.0%). In a similar vein, while overall 47.7 percent of American travelers said they expect to be better off financially a year from now, more than half of Gen Z (55.4%) and over six in ten Millennial (63.2%) travelers said they anticipate being better or much better off financially, while just under half of Gen X (48.0%) and only a third of Baby Boomer (33.4%) travelers said the same. In general, American travelers overall continue to maintain a stable financial outlook, with a steady sense of current financial well-being and a positive outlook.
• Given that historically American travelers' financial outlook closely aligns with their attitudes around travel spending, it is no surprise that the share of those who feel that now is a good time to spend on travel has also held steady amidst this ongoing sense of financial stability. This month, 35.1 percent of Americans agreed that now is a good or very good time to spend on travel, a slight gain (+1.3 points) over last month, and well above the same metric for August 2023 (25.5%, a +9.6 percentage point increase). Similarly, there have been minimal shifts in how American travelers are prioritizing travel as a budget priority in the near term. Nearly six in ten (58.8%) said that travel will be a high budget priority for them in the next three months, a slight gain over last month (56.8%, +2.0 points) and another notable leap compared to the same time last year (50.8%, +8.0 points). But perhaps the biggest indicator that Americans are serious about spending on travel in the near term is this month's data around maximum leisure travel spending expected in the next 12 months, which shattered the March 2024 peak ($4,888) with a record-breaking $5,413. Americans who stay in luxury hotels report Looking at how this shakes out by generation, this high budget is led by Baby Boomer travelers ($6,459) despite their more tepid financial sentiment and outlook. Notably, the maximum expected leisure travel spend in the next 12 months is above $4,000 across all generations.

Closing out a Colossal Summer Travel Season and Sustaining Travel Volume into the Future

• Americans traveled at great rates in Summer 2024: 47.8 percent took 1.0 overnight leisure trips on average in June, 50.9 percent took 1.1 overnight leisure trips in July and 47.7 percent took 0.9 overnight leisure trips in August—the highest levels recorded in the last 2 years. 
• Americans’ excitement for travel remains near record levels at 8.2 on a 0-10 scale—the same as it was one year ago. Another indicator that travel sentiment is in good health: 2024 metrics on the share of Americans who have done online travel research within the last week have consistently outperformed both 2022 and 2023.
• Looking ahead, 29.9 percent of American travelers say they have trips planned in September; fully 33.2 percent have trip plans for October. The number of anticipated leisure trips in the next 12 months also continues to hold steady, with American travelers reporting an average of 3.6 leisure trips expected in the next year, with 89.6 percent saying they will travel for leisure at least once. 
• Travel volume mirrors the stability we are seeing around financial outlook and travel spending sentiment. While budgets are up, there has not been a noticeable increase in expectations for more travel in the near term, suggesting that American travelers may spend more on the same amount of trips rather than necessarily increasing their overall number of trips. 

Destination Considerations, Trip Planning Windows, and Other Notable Travel Planning Behaviors

• This month we dove deeper into factors that play a role in how American travelers decide where to take their trips. Notably, safety concerns around crime and violence are by far the top-most important consideration in destination selection—far outpacing expense, health risk, extreme weather, societal issues, and politics, and spanning across all generations. When it comes to social issues and/or a destination's politics or policies, it’s Millennial-age travelers who are most likely to take these into consideration (41.5% and 33.3%, respectively).
• Trip planning windows have lengthened in 2024 relative to 2023, when they were at a 3-year low. Right now, American travelers report they would begin planning a week-long vacation 11.5, a week longer than one year ago. Interestingly for travel marketers, nearly one-third said they always (8.5%) or often (23.7%) adjust their travel dates or destinations to take advantage of better deals or lower costs.

American Travelers are Increasingly International Trip-Focused 

• American travelers are increasingly turning their attention abroad for their upcoming trips. Currently, 37.7 percent of American travelers said that they are likely or very likely to take a trip outside of the United States in the next 12 months. This month marks an all-time high since tracking began in February 2022 for the likelihood of traveling overseas. Looking at who these American international travelers are, they are largely led by Gen Z travelers, with over four in ten (43.0%) saying they are likely to take an international trip in the next year, followed closely by Millennial travelers (39.8%). Just over a third of Gen X (36.1%) and Baby Boomer (36.5%) travelers said the same. Perhaps unsurprisingly, higher-income travelers (i.e., a household income of $200,000 or more) are significantly more likely to anticipate traveling abroad in the coming year (69.7%), but one in five lower-income travelers (i.e., a household income of less than $50,000) said they are likely to travel overseas in this period (20.2%). Parents of school-aged children are significantly more likely to take a trip outside of the United States as well (45.5% vs 34.4% of non-parents), which may tie closely in with the generational differences cited above. Looking at where American travelers most want to visit in the next 12 months, Italy continues to top the list this month at 16.7 percent, followed by 13.1 percent who want to visit the UK, 12.5 percent who mentioned Canada, and 12.3 percent who listed Mexico. Japan is the only Asian destination to make the top 10 list of most desired international destinations at 10.2 percent of American travelers.

Join us for our international traveling American livestream presentation on September 25. Register here.