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 performed by The Harris Ballot for TPG.
After warnings of softening demand from airways like American Airways, Delta Air Strains and Southwest Airways, we questioned if the bullish journey sentiment we discovered earlier this yr 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 nearly as many passengers because it did throughout these months of 2024.
Nonetheless, there are some warning indicators on the horizon with regards to journey sentiment, together with the truth that most People say present financial situations have them rethinking their journey plans in some type or trend.
Most People are planning to journey the identical or greater than final yr
Our new survey discovered that greater than three in 4 People plan to journey in 2025, which is nearly equivalent to their journey plans captured earlier within the yr. We additionally discovered that about one-third of People intend to journey extra and/or enhance their spending on journey, suggesting there’s nonetheless a strong curiosity in journey regardless of the present financial and political atmosphere.
The brand new TPG/Harris Ballot survey discovered:
- Greater than three in 4 People (77%) plan to journey in 2025 (according to 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 yr (just like February’s outcomes of 35%), whereas 42% plan to journey about the identical and simply 9% anticipate to journey lower than in 2024.
- About one in three People (34%) plan to spend extra on journey in 2025 than they did final yr, whereas 37% will spend about the identical and simply 10% say they may spend much less on journey this yr.
Total, the TPG/Harris Ballot survey suggests males are extra possible than ladies to plan journey this yr (80% versus 73%) and to say they plan to spend extra on journey than final yr (41% versus 27%).
There are some warning indicators on traveler sentiment
Nevertheless it’s not all excellent news with regards to traveler sentiment — there are some clouds on the horizon.
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About one in 10 People say they may journey much less (9%) or spend much less on journey than they did final yr (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 yr:
- They traveled extra final yr than they normally do: 16%
- Security issues, akin to crime and political unrest: 14%
- Well being causes: 14%
- Private circumstances: 11%
- Climate issues: 8%
- Work obligations: 8%
- Different causes: 15%
In line with the survey knowledge compiled by The Harris Ballot, “The present financial scenario, together with tariffs and inflation, has influenced the journey plans of greater than half of People this yr.”
Associated: Must know: The 6 high journey developments for 2025
Greater than half of People say they may scale back their journey frequency or shorten their journey durations resulting from 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/greater costs, and many others.) has affected their journey plans this yr.
- About one in 5 People have/will journey lower than beforehand deliberate (20%) or have/will shorten the period of their journeys (19%) as a result of present economic system.
- About one in seven People say they’ve postponed or canceled journey plans or will accomplish that (14%), and the identical proportion have modified their journey locations as a result of 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%) as a result of present economic system.
US international coverage is having an affect
A shifting U.S. international coverage image can be affecting journey plans for People. Practically 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 finished so).
- Three in 10 People (30%) point out that altering U.S. international coverage has affected their worldwide journey plans this yr.
- Practically 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 adjustments.
- 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 yr.
- 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%) resulting from 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 as a result of altering U.S. international coverage.
Why any slowdown in journey bookings might 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 truth, for those who’re one of many 32% of People who plan to journey extra this yr, this might work to your benefit.
A latest report from journey knowledge firm OAG suggests airways are nonetheless including capability (extra flights) inside the U.S. and to locations like Europe.
“Regardless of a backdrop of provide chain issues and a few financial uncertainty, whole airline capability (each home and worldwide) in North America is up 2% this summer time vs summer time 2024,” the report says.
In line with Cirium, one other aviation knowledge firm, the variety of seats to Europe from the U.S. this summer time is up 3.9% yr over yr.
Certainly, we’re already seeing loads of deal alerts for flights to Europe this summer time for below $500. Only one instance? This 30% off sale from the low cost service 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 technique: This survey was performed on-line inside the US by The Harris Ballot on behalf of The Factors Man from Could 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 research, the pattern knowledge is correct to inside plus or minus 2.5 proportion factors utilizing a 95% confidence degree.
