Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In its annual travel trends report, the card issuer reveals where Americans are going, with fresh economic insights into why. Where are you headed this summer, America? Americans are traveling overseas in record numbers this year. As we head into Memorial Day weekend, a new report from the Mastercard Economics Institute, which tracks anonymized spending data, reveals a record 15.
9 million Americans traveled internationally in Q1 this year. U.S.
passenger traffic to overseas countries is now 20% higher than the pre-COVID record. Given the strong dollar and relative health of the U.S.
economy, economists see no signs of demand abating. So, it’s official: Americans are excited to go on vacation. But this study also reveals more clues as to where U.
S. consumers are going, why they’re going, and how price sensitive they are when they get there. For instance, consumers are extending their trips from four to five days on average, in order to have a more “immersive and meaningful” travel experience.
“In the experience economy, you're seeing a consumer that is largely price tolerant, and is willing and able to spend. But, they're deploying more of that purchasing power towards experiences over material goods,” says Michelle Meyer, chief economist and head of the Mastercard Economics Institute. She also notes that spending on experiences totals 12% of tourism sales — the highest point in at least five years.
At the same.