The weather is finally on the upswing and many Americans are looking to make the most of their summers. Some are predicting that summer travel on U.S. airlines will reach an all-time high this year, and a recent Harris Poll sees similar highs ahead for the U.S. travel industry, according to a recent press release. Sixty-eight percent of Americans have at least one leisure trip planned for summer 2015 (May through August), a slight increase from the 66 percent who planned one last year and an overall steady growth rate since 2012 when 60 percent planned a trip.
And Americans’ outlook on the economy isn’t acting as a barrier when it comes to summer travel. More than half of Americans (53 percent) say their outlook on the U.S. economy has no impact on their likelihood to travel this summer – an overall 13 percent improvement from when this question was first asked six years ago (40 percent in 2009) – and an additional 9 percent say their outlook on the economy will make them more likely to travel. Twenty-seven percent still say they’re less likely to travel this summer due to their outlook on the U.S. economy but that percentage continues to decrease year over year.
Business travel, however, has yet to make a similar recovery, with just 15 percent of Americans planning at least one business trip. While relatively unchanged from last year’s 14 percent, it’s a cumulative eight-point drop compared to six years ago (23 percent in 2009).
Regardless the type of travel, Americans plan to spend upwards of $1,500 on their trips, on average. Those planning summer leisure travel anticipate spending an average of $1,722 on their trips while those anticipating a business trip plan to spend $1,513, on average.
Of those planning at least one leisure trip over the summer, 43 percent plan to visit beach locations. In second place, vacationers will visit the downtown/center of a city (32 percent), followed by a national/state park (24 percent) and countryside/rural locations (22 percent).
Millennials are more likely than any other generation to be planning a downtown/center of a city vacation (40 percent vs. 27 percent Gen X, 28 percent Baby Boomers and 26 percent matures). Adults in households with children are more likely than those without to be planning a trip to a beach (52 percent with, 38 percent without) or theme park (31 percent with, 13 percent without) location.
Methodology:
This Harris Poll was conducted online, in English, within the United States between April 16 and 20, 2015 among 2,215 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Full results of this study, including data tables, can be found here.