Gain a Competitive Edge with the Domestic Travel Market Report

Earlier this month, the U.S. Travel Association research team released its annual Domestic Travel Market Report to members, who are able to download the report, along with accompanying fact sheets and other resources. The report provides a detailed look at the billions of domestic person-trips taken by American travelers in 2016, including insights on the primary purpose of these travelers’ trips; their accommodation preferences; changes in travel party composition; and the activities they took part in during their trips.

The 2017 edition also includes information on domestic travelers’ preferred travel planning and booking resources, and breaks down domestic travel characteristics by key demographics such as generation, ethnicity and race.

Some of the key findings in the 2017 Domestic Travel Market Report:

• Domestic travel in the U.S., which includes both leisure and business, rose by 27.8 million person-trips (a 1.3 percent increase), totaling 2.2 billion person-trips in 2016.
• Domestic leisure travel was the main driver of growth in travel within the U.S. in 2016, up 1.8 percent over the previous year.
• In 2016, domestic travelers took longer trips, ventured further from home, stayed in paid accommodations more frequently and participated in more activities during their trips than in previous years. This behavior was likely encouraged by healthy consumer confidence, low unemployment, inexpensive fuel prices and low inflation.
• Average domestic trip spending also increased slightly overall, despite a decline in gasoline prices, thanks to increased spending by travelers on entertainment and lodging.

That’s just a taste of what’s inside our annual assessment of the trends driving domestic travel in America. If you are a travel-related business or organization, this report is an ideal resource for preparing strategic plans and advertising promotions—giving you a competitive edge when marketing to U.S. domestic travelers.

As mentioned previously, the 2017 Domestic Travel Market Report and its accompanying resources are available to U.S. Travel members free of charge. The full report is available to non-members for $495, and non-members can also download three topical fact sheets for $150:

• Report Overview, which further parses the report highlights above and offers additional information;
• Accommodations and Sharing Economy, which breaks down how travelers are seeking and booking lodging during their trips in the age of Airbnb and other alternative home-sharing options; and
• Travel Party Composition, which highlights how demographic shifts are impacting who the Millennial generation travels with, and how that has changed over time.

Want more? If you’re not a member, and you’d like to use the insights in the Domestic Travel Market Report to grow your business, learn how to become a member here.