Americans will spend more on travel in 2017, says Choice Hotels survey

Leisure travel budgets will balloon next year, despite generally busy schedules

Hospitality

By Allie Sanchez

"Even though Americans are busier than ever, our survey reinforces that travel matters. People are willing to spend significantly more than last year to explore new places," Patrick Pacious, president and chief operating officer, Choice Hotels International, said in a recent report.

The report talks about travel trends in the coming year, based on Choice Hotels’ recent survey.
 
Among others, the study, reported on by Hotel News Resource, said that Americans have less time to travel, but are willing to spend more for it, given the opportunity. Specifically, the study said that 20% of respondents said they were too busy to travel in the past 12 months, marking a 144% increase over the previous year.
 
However, Choice found that personal travel budgets went up by 42% from 2016 to $5,000 from $3,600. Food and beverage took a giant slice of travel expenses at 43%, while 30% goes to accommodations and lodging.
 
The beach remained a favorite destination among travelers with more than half of Americans saying they want a holiday near the sea. Florida and California is the go-to place for 56% of respondents.
 
Internationally, 63% listed Australia as their top destination, followed by South America (38%), and Cuba (27%). Meanwhile, 28% said they have plans of visiting Europe next year.
 
For an all expense paid trip to their dream destination, almost 60% said they would give up their daily cup of joe, while more than half were willing to forego holiday gifts.
 
Destination travel was also a good idea for a first date for 39% of respondents, the report said.

Newlio undertook the Choice Hotels 2017 Travel Forecast.


Related stories:
Supply growth forecast for hotels in 2017: STR
International tourists near 1 billion in first three quarters of 2016
 

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