Vacation Vs. Inflation: How Rising Prices Impact Travel Plans?

September 22, 2022

Experts claimed that 2022 was supposed to be the post-pandemic awakening of the tourism industry, wasn’t it?

Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine and global inflation thwarted these plans. In fact, the tourism sector won’t fully recover until at least 2024 (according to the World Tourism Organization).

To deepen this topic, Passport Photo Online created a survey-based Study on the Impact of Inflation on Tourism and Travel in 2022. They polled ~1,000 American travelers to discover how inflation affected their vacation plans this year.The key findings from the study:

Almost 9 in 10 (88%) of vacation-goers are muscled to downgrade their vacation plans. Due to inflation, they have to cut spending on needs like entertainment, recreation, lodging, and dining.
Most U.S. travelers had to budget 11–20% more toward travel to keep their plans afloat. That’s more than the current average inflation rate (8.6%).
72% are likely or very likely to (further) cut back on travel in 2022 and beyond if inflation persists. According to respondents, the top 3 ways to do it are to travel shorter distances, take fewer trips, and pick more budget-friendly destinations.
96% of Americans still plan to go on vacation in 2022. That’s the result of the pandemic, which made people more hungry for travel. Still, COVID-19 is the second most frequently indicated concern against traveling this year (after inflation).
85% of Americans will seek alternative transportation when traveling in 2022. Due to the 149% rise of jet fuel year-to-year most respondents pointed to the (electric) car.