Travel Spending to Hold Steady in 2023: New Skift Research U.S. Travel Tracker

Despite rising prices and economic uncertainty, many U.S. travelers seem to be ring-fencing their travel budgets from spending cuts, according to the latest survey by Skift Research.

Seven out of every 10 U.S. travelers surveyed said they had experienced higher travel prices while booking their personal trips and altered their travel plans as a result. Only about 5% of the respondents said they would or had cut their travel spending.

In our newly released U.S. Travel Tracker: Q1 2023 Highlights report, Skift Research highlights the current state of the U.S. travel demand with data and insights on trip details, consumer sentiment, travel spending changes, booking trends, and how the “work from anywhere” trend impacts travel.

There is an uptick in travel in the U.S. In March 2023, 59% of Americans traveled, 4 percentage points higher than December 2022. However, share of international remained steady in March 2023. An increase in flight travel and travel to urban centers indicated that Covid-related changes in the travel landscape are reversing. 

The age of “blended travel” is still here so far. Over half of business travelers reported that they extended their business trips for leisure purposes in Q1 2023.

Remote work hasn’t vanished with the pandemic, either. The share of respondents working fully remotely/from home stood at 38% in March 2023.

Even though an increasing number of Americans believe that the economic situation of the country will worsen in the next 12 months, more than half believe that their personal financial status will improve in the next 12 months.

Given all these data points, we are cautiously optimistic that travel will remain insulated from spending cuts.

Skift Research introduced the monthly U.S. Travel Tracker survey in January 2020 and switched to a bi-monthly survey starting 2021 and 2022. Starting in 2023, these surveys will be fielded quarterly.

What You’ll Learn From This Report

• U.S. Travel Highlights
• Booking Trends
• Customer Experience
• In-Destination Trends
• Consumer attitudes to prices, and the impact on travel plans
• Use of sustainable options provided by travel suppliers
• Consumer Sentiment and economic outlook

U.S. Travel Tracker: Q1 2023 Highlights

Despite rising prices and economic uncertainty, many U.S. travelers seem to be ring-fencing their travel budgets from spending cuts.

Read More