Report: Weak Economy Eclipsing Pandemic Woes

Global decision intelligence company Morning Consult, based in Washington D.C., this week released its State of Travel & Hospitality analysis report. The company conducts daily surveys among 16,000 American tracking the data on nearly 3000 companies, products and services. Their latest report focuses on how consumers are reshaping the travel and hospitality industry amid the Covid pandemic and economic concerns.

Some key takeaways from the report:

• Covid concerns have given way to financial worries
  Consumers have become more comfortable with traveling as pandemic concerns have abated. But despite a busy early summer, volume has again dropped in the face of economic uncertainty. While concerns of rising Covid cases may play a part in this decline, a more significant factor is the economy: 43 percent of Americans say they’re traveling less this summer because of high prices.
• Business travel will never return to normal
  More than two years since Covid emerged, data suggests that business travel will never return to pre-pandemic levels. Two out of five U.S. business travelers say they won’t return to hitting the road. The number of travelers blending business and leisure travel has also declined in recent months, as employees have settled into new realities of work.
• Air travel will slow into shoulder season
  Memorial Day to the Fourth of July — a consistently busy period for airlines — became a “flightmare” as delays and cancellations shook consumer trust. With gas prices now falling, travelers are again considering more budget-friendly road trips as an alternative to air travel — only 13 percent of U.S. adults say they will travel by plane in the next three months.
• Hotels are poised to gain market share from vacation rentals
  As summer rentals slow, volume will shift back to hotels in the coming months. Many consumers traveled in early summer but are now cutting back due to cost concerns. The share of lower-income travelers staying at hotels dropped compared with earlier this year.

Read the full Morning Consult State of Travel & Hospitality analysis report here.