The Deloitte Summer Travel Survey revealed travel interest among consumers in the United States in 2024 is similar to last year, although they are likely to take fewer trips, and travel prices are playing a bigger role in keeping people home.
Some 39% of consumers say they can’t afford to travel, but that’s down from 50% in 2023. Moreover, 32% of consumers surveyed said that travel is too expensive now versus 24% a year ago. At the same time, 19% of consumers said they would rather spend on other things versus 16% in 2023.
The budget for a major, or “marquis,” leisure trip for 2024 is up 10% from 2023, Deloitte stated. However, planned trip frequency is lower, as the average traveler intends to make 2.3 trips this summer versus 3.1 a year ago.
Consumers with household budgets below $100,000 are most likely to travel less due to inflation. High-income consumers are a bigger part of the overall spending pie this year, at 44%, versus 35% in 2023. Boomers are also taking a bigger slice of travel occasion at 34% up from 28% in 2023.
The experience counts when it comes to lodging, with travelers more likely to choose destination resorts, guesthouses, recreational vehicles and camping. Limited-service and full-service hotels are seeing less interest across income and age groups, Deloitte maintained. Overall, 48% of consumers plan to pay for lodging this summer, down two points year over year; 42% are not traveling, down five points; and 10% will stay with family and friends, down three points.
