Leaf Group’s digital media travel brand, OnlyInYourState, has released a new consumer travel report based on responses from its most recent reader survey. The website surveyed more than 15,000 readers in April to identify consumer sentiment about travel and future plans for travel through the end of the year.
The OnlyInYourState data shows that, while uncertainty ruled in the past two years, readers are eager to travel again, with 88% of respondents interested in traveling during 2022, and 89% of respondents planning to take multiple trips in 2022. Additionally, nearly half of respondents plan to travel for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, with 90% of those traveling over the holiday planning to travel by car.
Travelers are opening their wallets as 86% of respondents say the cost of their average domestic trip is up to $2,000. A total of 93% of respondents are planning overnight stays during their travels, with 69% indicating that they plan to stay in a hotel. This has increased considerably compared with OnlyInYourState’s last survey in fall 2020, when only 41% of respondents were comfortable staying in a hotel.
While nearly one-third of respondents plan to travel on an airplane in the next three months, most Americans still prefer to hit the road—with nine out of 10 saying their preferred method of travel is by car. Almost 80% of respondents want to reconnect with nature at national, state and local parks, while 75% plan to visit small towns or rural destinations and more than half plan to visit the beach this summer. Less than half of respondents say they will travel less due to gas prices.