But to meet their vacation plans, consumers must continue to grapple with inflation and high prices, and nearly half of respondents in the survey said they planned to spend more on travel in 2024 than last year. So to finance their restlessness, Americans are putting other important life plans on hold.
One in five millennials – and 17% of Gen Zers – plan to postpone major life purchases, such as buying a home, to pay for the trip, the survey found. About a third of all Americans said they don’t want to wait until retirement to see the world and are now prioritizing travel.
According to Empower, not only major financial milestones, such as buying a house and retirement, are being put on the back burner. People are also cutting back on small amounts to pay for their trips – and in some cases taking on debt.
More than two-thirds of Gen $2,849. Of these people, more than a quarter said paying off their debts would take a year or more.
In 2023, the travel industry boomed as consumer demand for experiences returned with a vengeance in the wake of the pandemic. A year later, that desire still doesn’t seem to have disappeared. More than 2.9 million travelers were screened at U.S. airports the Friday before Memorial Day, breaking a single-day record set around Thanksgiving last year.
During the summer, airlines expect to transport 271 million people6.3% more than last year’s record season.
A recent report from Expedia shows that Americans are more desperate than ever to escape: 65% of survey respondents told the travel company they felt deprived of a vacation, even more than during the height of the pandemic.
Christie Hudson, head of PR at Expedia, told us Fortune that a significant portion of survey respondents plan to travel “anyway” in 2024.
“In terms of attitude and valuing experiences over things, that whole mentality, people seem to be very aligned coming out of the pandemic,” he said.
