Summer travel poll: 61% of Americans likely to travel for leisure

WASHINGTON — Sixty-one percent of Americans plan to travel overnight for leisure in the next four months and 34% of Americans expect to increase their overnight leisure travel this summer compared to last year, according to a new survey commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and conducted by Morning Consult.

The poll found that 31% of Americans said they plan to increase their number of hotel stays this summer compared to last summer.

Regarding business travel, 35% of Americans said they expect to take an overnight business trip in the next four months, and 16% said they plan to increase their level of business-related travel this summer compared to last summer.

Hotels remain the top lodging choice for both business (60%) and leisure (46%) travelers this summer.

The poll results are good news for hoteliers, who continue to face challenging economic headwinds, including a nationwide labor shortage and high interest rates. However, the survey shows that persistent inflation remains a significant obstacle to growth for hoteliers and other travel-related businesses. It found that over the next four months:

55% of respondents said inflation is likely to reduce their chance of staying in a hotel, down slightly from 56% in January.
51% said inflation is likely to reduce their chance of traveling overnight.
46% said inflation is likely to reduce their chance of traveling by airplane.
44% said inflation is likely to reduce their chance of renting a car.

The poll surveyed 2,202 U.S. adults from April 25-28, 2024. Other findings include:

52% of respondents said they are likely to travel overnight for a family trip in the next four months – up from 51% in January – 36% of whom said they would likely stay in a hotel.
42% said they are likely to travel overnight for a romantic getaway in the next four months, 56% of whom said they would likely stay in a hotel.
31% said they are likely to travel overnight for Memorial Day, 35% of whom said they would likely stay in a hotel.
32% of those surveyed ranked high-speed Wi-Fi as the top technological amenity they consider when evaluating hotels.

This survey shows hotels are poised to benefit from a strong summer travel season, but it also underscores that inflation remains a stubborn obstacle to growth for our industry, said AHLA Interim President & CEO Kevin Carey. As hoteliers continue to face serious economic challenges, including a nationwide labor shortage, high interest rates, and aggressive federal regulatory efforts, AHLA will be fighting at all levels of government to overcome those obstacles on behalf of our members.

View an overview of the poll results here.

Morning Consult Survey Methodology

This poll was conducted between April 25-April 28, 2024, among a sample of 2,202 adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age, and race by educational attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

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