Summer vacation spending is set to hit a 10-year high this year, according to a new report from Allianz Global Assistance. The company’s 11th annual Vacation Confidence Index estimates the total spend will cross the $100 billion mark for the third consecutive year in the index's history, amounting to $101,700,000,000.
Americans' average anticipated spend on vacations this summer is $2,037, topping $2,000 for the first time since 2010 when the survey started tracking spending, and marking a 5.2 percent increase over last year, Allianz said. According to the fifth annual Global Travel Forecast from the Global Business Travel Association and Carlson Family Foundation, travel prices are expected to rise sharply in 2019 due to a growing global economy and rising oil prices.
The Allianz survey also found that 42 percent of Americans say they are confident they will take a summer vacation this year, marking the lowest since 2013, when only 40 percent were confident they would take a summer vacation. More than half of Americans who are not confident (52 percent) in taking a vacation this summer cited financial reasons, while another four in 10 of those with low confidence (38 percent) are restricted by time constraints, such as not being able to take time off from work or not wanting to take time off from work.
The survey also indicated that 49 percent of Americans say they typically take an annual summer vacation, an increase of three percentage points from 2018. Gen X'ers (ages 35-54), high income earners ($100K+) and those who think a vacation is important are more likely to typically take summer vacation. Additionally, two in 10 Americans (21 percent) have taken a vacation in the past three months, while more than half of Americans (51 percent) took their last vacation more than a year ago.
In terms of vacation spending, Americans are forecasted to spend over 20 percent (23.2 percent) more than they did in 2010, when the average anticipated spend was $1,653, according to the report.
The Vacation Confidence Index has been conducted each summer since 2009 by national polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance USA. A vacation is defined as a leisure trip of at least a week to a place that is 100 miles or more from home. This year’s survey polled a sample of 1,005 Americans aged 18+ by telephone from May 30 to June 2, 2019 via the Caravan Omnibus.
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