Biggest Trends Amid Declining Holiday Travel Demand

While a record number of Americans are projected to travel for the holidays this year, a new report from Deloitte is showing that might not be as beneficial to the domestic travel industry as it might at first seem, as the underlying metrics reveal declining holiday travel demand.

The report shows that while half of Americans are expected to travel for the holidays (from Thanksgiving through early January), a higher proportion of them are traveling to stay with friends and family, forgoing vacations to spend quality time with loved ones. 

That’s not all: higher-income travelers, or those making at least $100,000 a year, are major participants in the travel industry, often spending more money on vacations than the average American. 

Not this year, though. 

According to the research, nearly one in three Americans feel worse off financially than three years ago, and the biggest proportion came from those making over $100,000 a year: 19 percent of them reported feeling worse off. That number has increased from 26 percent in 2024 to 31 percent this year. 

Eighty percent of high-income travelers are planning to choose cheaper travel options this holiday season, with 57 percent of road-trippers citing cost as the major reason for driving instead of flying. 

As a sign of declining holiday travel demand, the average number of planned holiday trips dropped from 2.14 last year to 1.83, with the average American spending $2,334, a significant 18 percent decrease from 2024. 

Millennials are the generation leading a decline in planned holiday trips this year: the generation that typically spends the most on travel is only expected to comprise about a third of holiday travelers this winter. 

Combined with Gen Z travelers, the two generations are expected to be among the highest proportion of holiday travelers this year, expected to make up half of the traveling public for the first time—marking an interesting future shift that will turn the industry towards the younger generations. 

This article originally appeared in TravelPulse.

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