Americans plan to set their status to “out of office” for longer periods of time and spend a little more this summer, according to a new study by Allianz Partners USA. Even though the traditional week-long vacation is still hard to come by, the new report shows that people are making travel a priority again because they are taking longer trips and spending more money on them.
Since travel and confidence have gotten better in the past few years, the average number of nights spent away has been slowly going up and is now 4.5, up from 4.3 in 2022 and 4.1 in 2021. The change is starting to hurt the “micro-cation” trend, which was started by a travel insurance and assistance business in 2019. A “micro-cation” is a short vacation of four nights or less that is at least 100 miles from home. This year, 64% of respondents say that their next holiday will still be a micro-cation, and 23% are planning more than one, which is the same as last year.
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Seven out of 10 (71%) Americans will spend at least one night away from home between May and September. They will take an average of 1.4 trips away from home this summer. Two out of every five people polled (39%) are also planning multiple trips of two nights or more away from home. This will make the summer travel season busy. Even though most trips are still short enough to be called “micro-cations,” the average length of a trip starts to get shorter after three.
The length of time away isn’t the only sign that flying is getting better. Because spending on summer vacations is projected to reach a record $214.1 billion in 2023, it’s not surprising that the average cost per night is also going up. People who only stay away for one night are more likely to spend $622 on their trip. When visitors add a second night, they plan to spend a total of $775, which brings the average price per night down to just $388. In a change from 2022, people who plan to stay away for three, four, or five nights have shown strong growth year-over-year, with their average nightly spending going up by up to 30%, or nearly $100, to $418, $422, and $445, respectively.
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“A ‘micro-cation’ affords more opportunity to make a quick getaway and justify a splurge, and many Americans are planning multiple trips to soak in all summer has to offer from the mountains to the beaches and everywhere in between,” said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA. “For frequent travelers, an annual travel insurance policy delivers both convenience and value by protecting every trip from budget to binge for a full year.”
Since 2009, Ipsos Public Affairs, a national polling company, has done the Vacation Confidence Index every summer for Allianz Partners USA.
Allianz Partners sells travel insurance through most of the big U.S. airlines, top travel agents, online travel agencies, hotel companies, cruise lines, and directly to consumers.
