Nearly two in three U.S. adults have traveled or plan to travel for leisure this year, according to a new Bankrate survey. Of the 32 percent of U.S. adults who already have traveled for either leisure or business this year, something went wrong for many of them: 77 percent have run into a travel-related problem.
Those issues range from higher prices than they’re accustomed to (53 percent), long waits (25 percent), poor customer service (24 percent), canceled or disrupted plans (23 percent), and hard-to-find availability (23 percent).
After surging last year when COVID-19 travel restrictions eased, pent-up demand for travel still hasn’t slowed. But with that demand, travelers may have to combat higher prices, in part due to inflation and tighter availability when booking plane tickets, hotels and other travel essentials.
About Two-thirds of Americans Planning Travel
Whether it’s renting a car for a quick road trip in-state or booking a flight for a luxury international getaway, 63 percent of U.S. adults plan to travel for leisure this year—32 percent have already taken a trip by early June 2023 and 46 percent plan to travel before the end of the year (with some overlap between those two groups).
The pent-up urge to travel after COVID-19 has gotten even stronger over the last year: 58 percent of U.S. adults had traveled or planned to travel in July 2022, according to Bankrate.
“Travelers should brace for another busy summer travel season. I thought a lot of people got the travel bug out of their system last year, as the pandemic receded, and I expected high inflation to contribute to a decline in travelers this year. But that doesn’t seem to be the case,” Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman said.
Source: Bankrate survey, June 6-9
Additionally, 23 percent of people have or plan to take a business trip this year, including 12 percent who already have gone on one and 14 percent who plan to do so later in the year.
Leisure travelers in 2023 sway younger and wealthier. Gen Zers and millennials are the most likely of any generation to travel for leisure this year:
