Travel Searches and Spending Among Consumers on the Rise

The latest consumer-tracking research from Deloitte suggests that travel planning for Summer 2020 is on the rise, as the number of travel-related searches multiplies and actual spending begins to increase, reported Travel Weekly.

The most recent wave of Deloitte’s biweekly ‘Global State of the Consumer Tracker’ survey results, collected in mid-May, suggests that almost one-third (31 percent) of consumers intend to stay in a hotel during a leisure trip in the coming summer months, which is up from 24 percent in mid-April.

The ratio of respondents who answered that they’d feel safe now staying in a hotel room also went up from roughly one in five (20 percent) in mid-April to almost one-third (30 percent), after one month’s time.

The data showed that searches of travel websites are also on the rise, accompanied by travel spending, which has consistently seen year-over-year growth during the past four weeks.

While these early indicators offer a basis for optimism about the return of leisure travel, Deloitte analysts went on to warn that the industry’s outlook for overall recovery still remains uncertain. Although the signs point to a modest uptick in travel planning, Deloitte observed that Americans are generally quick to cut vacations out of their budgets when economic conditions get rough.

Survey results reveal that consumers’ health-related fears are decreasing, while financial factors are increasingly becoming the subject of concern among aspiring travelers. Twenty-seven percent of respondents expressed worry about making upcoming payments and 43 percent of those surveyed said that they plan on delaying large purchases at this point.

This report arrives as the latest in a series of examinations into evolving consumer sentiment surrounding health and safety, economic concerns, future travel intentions, current travel spending and online travel shopping behavior. The ‘State of the Consumer Tracker’ gathers its research globally, currently collecting answers from consumers across seventeen countries.