According to the 8th annual Vacation Confidence Index just released by Allianz Travel Insurance, Americans are spending more on summer vacations this year. In fact, vacation spending has topped $100 billion for the first time. This is an increase of 12.5% from last year. I have to say this is a bit of a surprise to me given so much uncertainty with the current administration but it’s nice to hear that Americans are spending more on summer vacations this year.
“Americans are feeling better about the economy and have loosened their purse strings for summer 2017,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “We’re happy to see that for first time in the eight year history of the Vacation Confidence Index, vacation spending will hit an impressive $100 billion. This new milestone is great news for the travel industry.”
I have to agree with Dan, those are good signs for the travel industry, especially when you’re continually hearing how down it is. However, those down numbers come from foreigners coming to the United States and not the other way around as the Vacation Confidence Index suggests. Hopefully these numbers will continue!
This is the second consecutive year that Americans’ vacation spending has risen. This makes sense given the great run for the stock market in the last few years. As I referenced it will be interesting to see how these numbers are affected in the coming years. Also, given the relative strength of the US Dollar, it’ll be interesting to see where Americans are traveling
Ironically, the Vacation Confidence Index also found that taking a vacation is less important to Americans than before. In fact, it’s down 6 points since last year. However, the percentage of Americans that are confident that they’ll take a summer vacation is up slightly. These numbers are interesting and as I keep saying, time will tell how these numbers change moving forward.
The Vacation Confidence Index has been conducted each summer since 2010 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.
Disclaimer: I work as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receive financial compensation.
A very nice blog. Keep coming with more blogs like this.