Americans Keep on Traveling, Undeterred by Economic Concerns

Nearly 41 percent of Americans traveled in March 2022, little changed from January. However, it’s 5 percentage points higher than March last year, signaling a somewhat healthier start as we inch towards summer season, according to Skift Research’s newly released U.S. Travel Tracker: March 2022 Highlights report.

Unsurprisingly, with the rising inflation and oil price, Americans are very worried about the economy. Fifty-one percent of American adults in our survey now believe the U.S. economy will fare worse in the next 12 months. However, Americans’ pent-up travel demand remains strong despite the concerns about the economic situation. Thirty-four percent of the survey respondents still expect to increase their travel spending in the next 12 months, more than double of those expecting to decrease future travel spending.

Skift Research introduced a monthly U.S. travel tracking survey in January 2020 to examine the travel penetration rates and detailed travel behavior of the U.S. population. In addition to the factual travel occurrences, we also asked respondents their perceptions on the macro-level economic condition as well their personal financial and travel outlook. We switched the survey to every other month in 2021. As we move through different phases of Covid-19, our tracking survey captures the fluctuations of consumer travel behavior and intent in real time.

In our newly released U.S. Travel Tracker: March 2022 Highlights report, we highlight new and ongoing trends in travel incidences, consumer sentiments and future travel intents in the pandemic world, distilled from our March Travel Tracker survey.

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What You’ll Learn From This Report

• Travel incidences, January 2020–March 2022
• March 2022 travel highlights
• Covid impacted travel, March 2021–March 2022
• Changing consumer sentiments on the economic outlook, February 2020–April 2022
• Consumer intent for 2022 travel
• Remote work trend and its impact on travel and mobility
• Covid vaccine rate and its impact on travel

Americans’ Travel Demand Remains Strong Amidst Concerns Over the Economy

Despite the spring break, 41% of Americans traveled in March 2022, little changed from January. However, it’s 5 percentage points higher than March last year, signaling a somewhat healthier start as we inch towards summer season.

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This is the latest in a series of reports and data products that Skift Research puts out to help you analyze the impact of the coronavirus on the travel industry. Tap into the opinions and insights of our seasoned network of staffers and contributors. Over 200 hours of desk research, data collection, and/or analysis goes into each report.

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