Americans’ average summer vacation spending to hit a record high of $2,037 on average, exceeding $2000 for the first time since 2010.

Washington, DC, June 25, 2019 — According to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance, Americans’ travelling habits reveal that anticipated summer vacation spend has reached a record high, rising 23% since 2010 when it was projected at $1,653, climbing to $2,037 this year. At the same time, for the third year in a row, the total projected spend will exceed $100 billion, a 34% increase since 2010 when it was $76 billion.

Over 4 in 10 (42%) Americans are confident they will take a summer vacation this year and those aged 35-54 (vs. 55+), high income earners ($100K+ vs. <$50K), and those who think vacation* is important are more likely to be confident they will take summer vacation this year. Notably, among those who think vacation is important, the anticipated average summer vacation spend sits at an even higher $2,213, while those who do not think vacation is important are anticipated to spend significantly lower with an average of $1,048.

Nearly half of Americans who are not confident they can take a summer vacation, cite financial reasons (52%), and Gen X is most likely to have such financial considerations. Time constraints (38%) were an additional contributor to lack of confidence in taking a vacation. However, for 2 in 10 (20%) Americans, personal obligations contributed to time constraints while only 14% of Americans specified that they would not be able to take time of work and 12% did not actually want to take time off work. Additionally, males and Millennials (vs. Baby Boomers) are more likely to cite that they cannot take time off work.

Nearly half (49%) of Americans typically take an annual summer vacation, up 3 points since last year, but still lower than the record high of 55% in 2011. Gen X (vs. Baby Boomers), high income earners ($100K+ vs. <$75K), and those who think vacation is important are more likely to typically take a summer vacation of some kind. In terms of vacations overall, two in 10 (21%) Americans took their last vacation in the last 3 months, up 3 points since 2018 and 7 Points since 2017. Higher income earners (75K+ vs. <$50K) and those who think vacation is important are more likely to have taken a vacation recently, in the past 3 months. However, over half (51%) of Americans took their last vacation more than a year ago and those with income of <35K are most likely to have not vacationed in over a year.

*Vacation has been defined as a leisure travel of at least a week, to a destination at least 100 miles from your home.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 30 and June 2 2019, on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 American adults was interviewed by telephone via the Caravan Omnibus. Generational categories are being loosely defined as follows: Millennials aged 18-34, Gen X aged 35-54, and Baby Boomers aged 55+). Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of random telephone polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Vice President, Public Affairs
Ipsos
+1 416 324-2002
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks fourth in the global research industry.

With offices in 89 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media; customer loyalty; marketing; public affairs research; and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

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