MMGY Report: U.S. Travel Demand for 2025 Reaches Four-Year High

Despite the bumps in the travel road in 2024 – worsening strife in the Middle East, divisive politics at home and extreme weather disasters – the American vacationer nonetheless wants to explore the world, according to MMGY’s report on U.S. travel demand for 2025.

The Fall 2024 Edition of MMGY Global’s Portrait of American Travelers (POAT) pinpoints a continued heightened interest in culinary tourism and cruising on the oceans, rivers and inland waterways. Plus, as you’ve probably already discovered, travelers are flocking to family, warm-weather and ski resort destinations in an already-heavily booked upcoming holiday season.

The quarterly survey found that nearly eight in 10 U.S. adults plan to take a vacation in the next 12 months, an increase of 6 percent compared to the results in fall 2023.

MMGY’s report on U.S. travel demand for 2025: Meaningful Experiences

“Despite economic uncertainties and global complexities, travel continues to be a major priority for Americans,” said Simon Moriarty, MMGY Travel Intelligence’s vice president of research and analytics.

“Our survey highlights a marked rise in interest in culinary and cruise experiences, reflecting a trend toward more immersive and meaningful travel. As we head into the busy but lucrative holiday season, marketers should recognize that travelers are planning their trips with increased thoughtfulness and genuine intent.”

One welcome result in the MMGY survey is that travel intentions have increased across every generation and household income level. “Since the summer survey, consumer concerns about the price of gas have decreased alongside price declines in the marketplace,” the survey said.

All Types of Cruising

The POAT found that more than half of leisure travelers are interested in taking an ocean cruise (58 percent) or a river cruise (52 percent) in the next two years. Forty percent are intrigued by expedition cruising.

Fascination With Food

“Although authentic local cuisine is still the most sought-after culinary experience (55 percent), there is growing interest in high-end culinary experiences such as award-winning restaurants or food and wine festivals,” the POAT survey reported.

This article originally appeared in TravelPulse; source material which follows appeared on MMGY’s own website.

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Accentuated by upticks in brand loyalty and outbound tourism, Americans expressed their strong appetite for travel in the “Winter Edition” of MMGY’s Portrait of American Travelers^® study released today. A quarterly examination of the evolving habits, preferences and behaviors of today’s U.S. travel consumers, the survey found that nearly 8 in 10 U.S. adults plan to take a vacation in the next 12 months, a 7% increase since winter 2023. 

Americans are eager to explore in 2025, with plans to spend significantly more and take more trips in the year ahead as the average vacation budget climbs to $5,051 and travel frequency rises to 4.1 trips per person. 

“Americans’ intent to travel is reaching its highest level in almost four years, eclipsing even the spikes we saw in the immediate post-pandemic surge,” said Simon Moriarty, MMGY Travel Intelligence’s Vice President of Research and Analytics. “Our survey found that Americans are increasingly devoting larger portions of their disposable incomes to vacations, signaling a conscious choice to prioritize experiences and a robust commitment to travel in 2025.”

Additional highlights from MMGY’s report on U.S. travel demand for 2025 follow:

• Brand Loyalty: Signaling the rising importance of driving repeat business, the survey identified a significant increase in brand loyalty across all sectors – with airlines and hotels witnessing extensive growth in their loyalty program memberships. Hotel loyalty program members grew 6% since 2023, while airlines observed an even larger growth of 8%. 
• Shifting Influences: Though their perceived authenticity may be waning over time, social media content creators and influencers were found to be more influential than celebrities when it comes to travel decisions. More than half (51%) of respondents said that they had been influenced “somewhat” or “a great deal” by influencers, compared to 41% by celebrities. 
• Traveling Abroad: Interest in international travel over the next six months is at its highest level since 2020, with far more travelers than in previous years planning trips between November and April. The low-cost and less-crowded nature of off-peak vacations continues to be alluring to American travelers. 

About the 2024 Portrait of American Travelers^®

MMGY’s Portrait of American Travelers^® study provides an in-depth examination of the impact of the current economic environment, prevailing social values and emerging travel habits, preferences and intentions of Americans. Now in its 34th year, it is widely regarded as a leading barometer of travel trends and an essential tool for developing and evolving brand and marketing strategies. The travel trend information presented in this “Winter Edition” report was obtained from interviews with 4,500 U.S. adults in October–November 2024 and features data from four generations: Gen Zers (18–25), Millennials (26–41), Gen Xers (42–57) and Boomers (58–76). The Silent/GI generation (77+) was also surveyed, but results are not broken out for this specific generation due to a small respondent sample size. This is the final of four quarterly reports to be released this year. 

About MMGY Travel Intelligence

MMGY Travel Intelligence is MMGY’s data and insights division, offering proprietary research including Portrait of American Travelers^® as well as DK Shifflet’s TRAVEL PERFORMANCE/Monitor^SM, which utilizes the largest continuous consumer travel database in the industry. MMGY Travel Intelligence’s services are designed to power travel industry decision-makers through consumer insights, travel performance data, and audience modeling and segmentation.