A majority of Americans have taken a vacation within the last year, marking a significant milestone in the 14-year history of Allianz Partners USA’s Annual Vacation Confidence Index. To note: Americans have never been as steadfast about the importance of taking an annual vacation or more confident in using their PTO days.
Defining a vacation as leisure travel of at least a week to a destination 100 miles or more away from home, the survey revealed that 57 percent of Americans have taken a vacation in the last year. Up from 44 percent last year, 2022 marks the highest percentage of Americans who reported traveling in the last year since at least 2009, when the survey was first conducted (when 51 percent of respondents reported so). Of the respondents who have traveled in the last year, two in 10 (22 percent) traveled within the three months leading up to the survey, with the 18- to 34-year-old demographic (29 percent) leading this trend.
Signifying a new norm of Americans prioritizing vacationing, Allianz’s survey also found that three-quarters of Americans (74 percent) consider an annual vacation important, a huge leap from 60 percent in 2019 and one point higher than last year. Mirroring this trend, confidence in taking a vacation this year also has never been higher, with 65 percent of Americans expressing positive intentions to vacation, up two points from last year and a stunning 13 points over the highest prior year surveyed (52 percent in 2014).
Allianz Partners USA also defined a “vacation deficit” as the percentage of Americans who say an annual vacation is important to them but are not confident that they will take one this year. In 2022, the percentage of Americans who are experiencing a vacation deficit returns to 19 percent (tied for the second lowest with 2019 and 2015) compared to 44 percent in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. With more Americans back to traveling, and with vacation intentions remaining strong, the vacation deficit is nearing an all-time low.
Looking at those who have been waiting longer to travel (43 percent of Americans have not taken a vacation in a year or more, down 13 points from last year), Americans ages 55 and up are demonstrating more hesitancy (55 percent) than their younger counterparts (41 percent for ages 35 to 54 and 31 percent for ages 18 to 34), as are lower-income Americans (56 percent of those making less than $50,000 per year versus 34 percent who make more than $100,000).
For this survey, a sample of 2,011 Americans aged 18 and up was interviewed from May 2 to 4, 2022, via the Ipsos Online Omnibus.
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