Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, September 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
25.08.2023 - 14:28 / skift.com / Rashaad Jorden / Eric Jones
High levels of inflation are contributing to a decline in Americans making travel plans for December holidays this year. Almost 43 percent of U.S. adults intend to travel for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, a 4 percentage point decrease from the figure recorded last year, according to a recent survey from travel industry website The Vacationer.
More than 67 percent of American adults said that inflation is affecting their plans for either Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, with 41 percent responding that soaring prices were impacting their travel plans for Christmas specifically. Close to 42 percent of respondents said they’re not intending to spend any money on travel for a December holiday this year, a little more than a 5 percentage point jump from 2021.
Those planning to take a trip for Christmas this year are planning to spend more on travel than they did in 2021. Roughly a third of American adults said they will spend more than $500 to travel for Christmas this year, compared to 23 percent in 2021.
“This proves many people are prepared to spend more money to travel despite inflation,” said Eric Jones, co-founder of The Vacationer.
“And those who do not want to spend more money to travel will cut back on their travel plans by doing things such as cooking in sometimes instead of eating out or staying at a family member’s house as opposed to a hotel.”
Roughly 111 million American adults said they intended to travel for a December holiday this year, nearly identical to the number that stated they made travel plans for Thanksgiving last month. Nearly a quarter of respondents — which works out to roughly 64 million American adults — said they made plans to travel both for Thanksgiving and a December holiday this year.
“I am surprised because with so many people saying high levels of inflation are affecting both their Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, I would have thought that some people would forego holiday travel altogether,” Jones said.
“And the TSA checkpoint traveler numbers approaching 2019 totals is even further evidence of people not foregoing travel altogether. So while people may adjust their travel plans, they are still going to travel. If slightly less Americans do in fact travel for a December holiday this year, it will be less by car.”
The survey of 1,003 American adults also found that younger adults are more likely to travel for a December holiday this year. Nearly 26 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 said they intend to travel for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa in 2022. However, a little more than 18 percent of Americans between the ages of 30 and 44 plan to do so while that figure drops to 11 percent for respondents over the age of 60.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, September 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
This summer’s travel boom is showing no signs of slowing down during the Labor Day weekend, especially for the growing number of Americans looking to vacation overseas.
The figures show an increase of 4.4 million on last year’s results when 5.3 million Brits planned to take an overnight holiday trip during the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Airbnb Mulls Removing Cleaning Fees as a Separate Charge: Hosts may be sabotaging their own bookings by levying excessively high cleaning fees. It is turning off many people to Airbnb, which is a concern for the company.
United Airlines, Alcohol Wipes and Finding New Customer Touch Points: Some passengers want to talk to people. Some do not. United Airlines wants make sure they all have a choice.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, December 19, and we are headed back from a successful Skift Forum in Dubai. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, January 5, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Travel is picking up in the U.S. In December, 55 percent of Americans traveled, 10 percentage points higher than the same time last year. However, the number of respondents who travelled decreased by 2 percentage points in December compared to September indicative of typical seasonality in travel with the winter season commencing.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 11, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 24. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, February 1. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Exactly a year ago Skift reported private equity chasing investments in short-term rentals and vacation rentals. At the time though, a short-term rental real estate investment trust (REIT) seemed distant.