According to Allianz’s 15th annual Vacation Confidence Index, Americans continue to spend lavishly on summer vacations.
Before it’s all said and done, Americans’ total summer vacation spending will likely surpass the $200 billion mark, reaching a whopping $214 billion for the first time since the Alliance began compiling the annual index.
This amount is a staggering 39 percent increase over 2021 and is nearly 10 percent higher than 2022 summer spending. It is also 261 percent more than 2020 spending, although this last figure is less astounding given that the world was still severely affected by the pandemic.
Expected spending this summer is 111% higher than in 2019, the year before the pandemic, which is maybe even more remarkable. Americans are not going to give up their summer vacation this year, even if it means paying top dollar for everything from airline flights to meals to hotel accommodations. Call it revenge travel or pent-up demand.
Other insights from the informative survey include:
- The typical American household is expected to spend $2,830 on vacation this summer.
- Since Allianz Partners began tracking vacation trends in 2009, only four times has more than $2,000 been spent on summer vacations.
- Expected average summer vacation spending per household has increased by about $1,000 in the three years since the pandemic turned the travel business around. That’s an increase of about 7% over 2022, 33% over 2021, and 50% over 2020.
- Typical household spending in 2023 is also projected to increase 39 percent over vacation costs in 2019 before the pandemic.
“We expect to see a record-breaking number of American travelers this summer,” Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA, said in a statement. “While a devilish mix of inflation and strong demand have kept travel prices elevated, as our survey found, Americans are still willing to pay top dollar for a well-earned summer vacation.”
The national polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs conducts the Vacation Confidence Index each summer. According to the survey, a vacation is a leisure trip of at least one week’s duration that takes place in a location at least 100 miles from home.
According to a number of recent surveys, the most recent of which is the Alliance data, this summer is expected to be quite busy for the travel sector. In May, Deloitte released a survey proving that the summer vacation industry is once again booming.