International Medical Group (IMG) has released the results of its annual “Travel Outlook Survey.” The survey shows 96 percent of respondents plan to travel internationally in 2024, which is a continued increase over the past three years. Travelers are also planning on taking more international trips (in total) throughout the year, with 47 percent of respondents planning to travel internationally three-plus times in 2024, a 3 percent increase compared to 2023 survey results.
When asked about domestic U.S. travel plans for the year, 85 percent of respondents have at least one domestic trip planned in 2024, with 49 percent planning to travel domestically more than three times during the year.
Travel Outlook Survey Findings
When ranking concerns about planning or taking a trip, survey results show that getting sick or having an accident during a trip continues to be the top concern for travelers in 2024. The second most concerning factor for travelers is having to cancel their trip. The top concerns include:
- Getting sick or having an accident while at your destination
- Needing to cancel your trip before you depart
- Issues getting to or from your destination
- Needing to interrupt your trip while at your destination
In 2023, there was a significant increase in travelers taking more expensive trips, and this trend is expected to continue as 58 percent of respondents plan to spend the same amount on travel in 2024 as they did in 2023. Another 28 percent of respondents said they plan to spend even more on travel this year than they did last year.
One emerging trend in 2024 is that travelers are increasingly considering food and cuisine options when choosing their next destination. According to survey results, activities, events and attractions are most important to people when traveling, while cuisine was ranked as the second most important factor.
This year, 50 percent of all respondents are also planning to travel for business. Of those respondents, 78 percent plan to participate in “bleisure travel,” combining business and leisure travel, by adding personal vacation time before or after at least one business trip. Another increasingly popular travel trend in 2024 is multi-generational travel. Results show that 35 percent of families have a domestic or international trip planned with multiple generations (children, parents and grandparents, etc.).
The most popular destinations respondents plan to travel to next in 2024 include Canada, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Spain and Thailand—making the list for the first time since 2021.
For more information, visit www.imglobal.com.
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