Although COVID19 seems to be minimally directing effecting travel, the tourism industry is still is a state of uncertainty with the state of the economy. The consistent trends from prior to COVID19 are no longer there. That being said, what the industry is seeing in the first quarter of 2023 remains positive.
Vacation Travel Search Increase
Globally, travelers are searching for vacation destinations by close to 10% from 2022. The largest increasing destination is for Asia, which makes sense since COVID19 travel restrictions were lifted on January 8. With that in mind, the destinations that saw the largest increases in searches from US travelers were Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.
People Still Eager to Travel
With the search volume up, it remains obvious that people still desire to travel. A survey from Wakefield Research showed that over 80% of people plan to travel more in 2023 than in 2022. Another interesting factor is that travel rewards members are planning to take significantly more trips. Depending on the credit card they have, this does not necessarily mean increased revenue for hotels.
Travelers Plan Further Ahead
While this may sound positive, travelers are not planning as far ahead as they did prior to COVID19. This is an increase due to travelers not planning very far ahead in 2021 and 2022 due to COVID19. The two windows that saw the largest increase were the travelers booking 91-180 days in advance and those booking 180+ days in advance. What this shows is that confidence in travel is being regained. People are confident that there was not be any issues next year not allowing them to travel.
Vacation Rental Trends
For US vacation rental trends there has not been a significant change. Most US vacation rentals are occupied by domestic travelers so any changes in international policy does not affect the vacation rental market too significantly. Within vacation rentals, it appeared that Hawaii dropped as a preferred destination some, while places like Destin, Florida and Gulf Shores, Alabama saw increases. This may point to the desire for people to still travel, but at a lower cost.
