Americans are spending more on their summer vacations than ever before, according to Allianz Partners USA’s 14th annual “Vacation Confidence Index.” Estimates for this year’s summer vacations spending expect to be $194 billion, approaching the $200 billion mark for the first time in the index’s decade-plus-long history. The projection represents a 26 percent increase over last year when Americans slowly began making their return to travel. The figure also marks a 229 percent increase above the 2020 season and 91 percent increase compared to pre-pandemic spending in 2019.
Americans’ average anticipated spend on vacations this summer is $2,644—the third time the figure has topped $2,000 since the travel insurance and assistance company began tracking vacation habits in 2010. Following an upward trend, the 2022 average vacation spend is a 25 percent increase over 2021, a 40 percent increase from 2020 and 30 percent increase from pre-pandemic 2019 levels. The increase in vacation spending is likely impacted by a combination of rising travel costs with U.S. inflation approaching a 40-year high, along with pent-up demand and an abundance of banked vacation days and healthy travel budgets to help travelers justify the elevated expense.
In a separate survey conducted by Allianz Partners, the travel and assistance company found that Americans also lead in planned household travel spending over 10 other European countries surveyed. Americans’ planned summer vacation costs are 24 percent to 81 percent higher than those hailing from Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain, respectively.
The "Vacation Confidence Index" has been conducted each summer since 2010 by national polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Allianz Partners USA. A vacation is defined as a leisure trip of at least one week to a place that is 100 miles or more from home. For this survey, a sample of 2,011 Americans aged 18 and up was interviewed from May 2 to 4, 2022.
The second “International Travel Confidence Index” carried out on behalf of Allianz Partners is intended to understand and assess the perception of summer holidays throughout various European countries and the United States of America. The study was carried out on a sample of 9,107 persons from May 3 to 11, 2022.
Source: Allianz Partners USA
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