Regardless of what you will have heard, People are nonetheless touring … and plan on spending extra on journey. That is the phrase from the most recent spherical of polling carried out by The Harris Ballot for TPG.
After warnings of softening demand from airways like American Airways, Delta Air Strains and Southwest Airways, we puzzled if the bullish journey sentiment we discovered earlier this 12 months would maintain up in our most up-to-date polling. It did.
Standard knowledge would maintain that journey is without doubt one of the first issues to get lower throughout financial downturns as a result of it is a discretionary expense. However the numbers thus far do not bear that out. As my colleague Sean Cudahy reported, in each March and April, the Transportation Safety Administration screened virtually as many passengers because it did throughout these months of 2024.
Nonetheless, there are some warning indicators on the horizon in terms of journey sentiment, together with the truth that most People say present financial situations have them rethinking their journey plans in some type or style.
Most People are planning to journey the identical or greater than final 12 months
Our new survey discovered that greater than three in 4 People plan to journey in 2025, which is nearly an identical to their journey plans captured earlier within the 12 months. We additionally discovered that about one-third of People intend to journey extra and/or improve their spending on journey, suggesting there’s nonetheless a sturdy curiosity in journey regardless of the present financial and political surroundings.
The brand new TPG/Harris Ballot survey discovered:
- Greater than three in 4 People (77%) plan to journey in 2025 (in keeping with February’s outcomes of 76%).
- Seven in 10 People (70%) intend to journey domestically, and 28% plan to journey internationally.
- Roughly one in three People (32%) plan to journey extra in 2025 than they did final 12 months (much like February’s outcomes of 35%), whereas 42% plan to journey about the identical and simply 9% count on to journey lower than in 2024.
- About one in three People (34%) plan to spend extra on journey in 2025 than they did final 12 months, whereas 37% will spend about the identical and simply 10% say they are going to spend much less on journey this 12 months.
Total, the TPG/Harris Ballot survey suggests males are extra doubtless than ladies to plan journey this 12 months (80% versus 73%) and to say they plan to spend extra on journey than final 12 months (41% versus 27%).
There are some warning indicators on traveler sentiment
However it’s not all excellent news in terms of traveler sentiment — there are some clouds on the horizon.
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About one in 10 People say they are going to journey much less (9%) or spend much less on journey than they did final 12 months (10%). Why? Amongst those that are decreasing their spending, monetary issues high the listing, with 61% citing funds.
Different causes amongst those that plan to journey much less or spend much less on journey this 12 months:
- They traveled extra final 12 months than they often do: 16%
- Security issues, corresponding to crime and political unrest: 14%
- Well being causes: 14%
- Private circumstances: 11%
- Climate issues: 8%
- Work obligations: 8%
- Different causes: 15%
In response to the survey knowledge compiled by The Harris Ballot, “The present financial state of affairs, together with tariffs and inflation, has influenced the journey plans of greater than half of People this 12 months.”
Associated: Have to know: The 6 high journey traits for 2025
Greater than half of People say they are going to cut back their journey frequency or shorten their journey durations because of financial issues. Others have thought of, or are contemplating, suspending or canceling their journey plans altogether or altering their locations.
- Greater than half of People (52%) say the present economic system (e.g., tariffs, inflation/increased costs, and so on.) has affected their journey plans this 12 months.
- About one in 5 People have/will journey lower than beforehand deliberate (20%) or have/will shorten the period of their journeys (19%) because of the present economic system.
- About one in seven People say they’ve postponed or canceled journey plans or will achieve this (14%), and the identical proportion have modified their journey locations because of the present economic system.
- Roughly one in 4 vacationers have traveled/will journey lower than beforehand deliberate (26%) or have shortened/will shorten the period of their journeys (25%) because of the present economic system.
US international coverage is having an impression
A shifting U.S. international coverage image can also be affecting journey plans for People. Almost one in three People report that shifts in U.S. international coverage have affected their worldwide journey plans, with 16% contemplating suspending or canceling worldwide journey (or having already achieved so).
- Three in 10 People (30%) point out that altering U.S. international coverage has affected their worldwide journey plans this 12 months.
- Almost one in eight People (16%) say they’ve postponed or canceled/will postpone or cancel worldwide journey plans.
- About 7% say they’ve modified/will change their worldwide locations, have shortened/will shorten the period of worldwide journeys or have traveled/will journey internationally lower than beforehand deliberate.
Amongst these truly planning to journey overseas, the numbers are steeper: Greater than half really feel impacted by international coverage modifications.
- Greater than half (58%) of worldwide vacationers (i.e., those that plan to journey internationally in 2025) say that altering U.S. international coverage has affected their worldwide journey plans this 12 months.
- About one in 4 worldwide vacationers say they’ve modified/will change their worldwide journey locations (25%), have shortened/will shorten the period of their worldwide journeys (24%) or anticipate doing/will do much less worldwide journey than beforehand deliberate (24%) because of altering U.S. international coverage.
- Roughly one in 5 worldwide vacationers (22%) say they’ve postponed or canceled/will postpone or cancel worldwide journey plans because of the altering U.S. international coverage.
Why any slowdown in journey bookings could possibly be excellent news for costs
Regardless of journey sentiment holding up in our findings, actual demand has certainly fallen for flights thus far in 2025. However that is not essentially unhealthy information from a passenger’s viewpoint. In reality, should you’re one of many 32% of People who plan to journey extra this 12 months, this might work to your benefit.
A current report from journey knowledge firm OAG suggests airways are nonetheless including capability (extra flights) throughout the U.S. and to locations like Europe.
“Regardless of a backdrop of provide chain issues and a few financial uncertainty, complete airline capability (each home and worldwide) in North America is up 2% this summer time vs summer time 2024,” the report says.
In response to Cirium, one other aviation knowledge firm, the variety of seats to Europe from the U.S. this summer time is up 3.9% 12 months over 12 months.
Certainly, we’re already seeing loads of deal alerts for flights to Europe this summer time for beneath $500. Only one instance? This 30% off sale from the low cost provider Play has flights from U.S. gateways for as little as $326 round-trip. Or, how about an American Airways flight in enterprise class from Chicago to London for simply 55,000 Alaska Airways Mileage Plan miles?
If we really see a sustained discount in demand, offers like that would turn into much more plentiful.
Associated studying:
Survey methodology: This survey was carried out on-line inside the US by The Harris Ballot on behalf of The Factors Man from Might 15 to 19, 2025, amongst 2,077 adults ages 18-plus. The sampling precision of Harris on-line polls is measured through the use of a Bayesian credible interval. For this examine, the pattern knowledge is correct to inside plus or minus 2.5 proportion factors utilizing a 95% confidence stage.
