Tripadvisor Releases Seasonal Travel Index Results (June – August 2023)

NEEDHAM, Mass., May 9, 2023 — Tripadvisor^®, the world’s largest travel guidance platform, releases its latest Seasonal Travel Index, providing an outlook for global travel patterns and demand over the next three months. The Index includes top takeaways for the upcoming season, along with country-specific Tripadvisor demand data and insights from its latest traveler sentiment survey.

Seasonal Travel Takeaways

1. The majority of travelers are planning summer trips
With summer round the corner in the northern hemisphere, the next three months look set to be an extremely busy period for global travel, with over three-quarters of those surveyed (78%) planning leisure trips between June and August. The vast majority of these travelers (95%) plan to travel the same amount (42%) or more (53%) compared to last year. Of the markets surveyed, Singapore has the most active traveler community, with 84% planning a trip between June and August, while just two-thirds of Japanese travelers will take leisure trips during the same period.

2. Most will spend more than they did last year
Over half of those surveyed (55%) will spend more on travel in the next few months compared to the same period last year, while around a third (37%) expect to spend about the same amount. Just 7% plan to spend less, despite a challenging economic outlook for many markets. Indeed, just 2 in 5 travelers surveyed (41%) said macroeconomic factors will change how they travel over the next three months, with two-thirds of these (65%) citing higher living costs, due to inflation, as the reason. Around two-fifths (41%) will travel for shorter periods, while a third (31%) will take fewer trips.

3. City-breaks remain popular
While beach destinations feature prominently in the list of top leisure trip destinations, it’s the world’s major cities that will continue to dominate travel demand between June and August. According to Tripadvisor’s site behavioral data, Paris, London and Rome are the top three international destinations for travel over the next three months. Even in Australia, where travelers typically look to South-East Asia for winter sun, the data shows London will be the most in demand destination, with Paris third on the list and Rome seventh.

4. Younger travelers eager to explore this season
Millennials, in particular, seem eager to get back out there, with the Index revealing that this group are more likely to travel this upcoming season, compared to other age groups. However, younger respondents (Gen Z and millennials) are also more likely to alter upcoming travel plans due to macroeconomic factors compared to older groups (49% vs 31%, on average).

5. Vacation planners looking for new experiences
Over half of respondents (56%) have booked or plan to book on-trip activities ahead of their upcoming trip, highlighting a trend for more experiential trip elements. About three-quarters of these will book their activities prior to their trip beginning, with a fifth (20%) booking four or more weeks before their trip. Gen Z and Millennial travelers are more likely to make advance bookings for experiences and activities than older age groups (68% vs. 41%, on average).

Alice Jong, Research and Insights Senior Analyst, Media at Tripadvisor commented: “With so many eager to get away this summer, early planning and booking are vital to secure preferred accommodations, flights, and experiences. With many consumers conscious of cost in the current climate, a little flexibility during the planning process can help to drive down the price of their trips. For example, when we look at the top international destinations over the next three months, Paris hotel prices are lowest during the week June 19-25, while August 28 – September 03 is the most affordable week to visit London.”

Traveler Sentiment Survey Data
Of those surveyed, two-thirds (78%) of respondents plan to travel for leisure this upcoming season

• US: 82%
• UK: 81%
• AUS: 66%
• JP: 65%
• SG: 84%

Collectively, over half of respondents (53%) are planning to travel more this upcoming season than they did last year.

• US: travel more (55%), about the same (39%), less (6%)
• UK: travel more (42%), about the same (48%), less (10%)
• AUS: travel more (43%), about the same (49%), less (8%)
• JP: travel more (50%), about the same (48%), less (2%)
• SG: travel more (66%), about the same (31%), less (3%)

Of those, over three-quarters (77%) plan to take between 1-2 trips, while more than one-in-five (22%) plan to take three or more trips.

• US: 1-2 trips (62%), 3-5 trips (31%), 6+ trips (7%)
• UK: 1-2 trips (79%), 3-5 trips (18%), 6+ trips (3%)
• AUS: 1-2 trips (87%), 3-5 trips (10%), 6+ trips (2%)
• JP: 1-2 trips (84%), 3-5 trips (13%), 6+ trips (3%)
• SG: 1-2 trips (80%), 3-5 trips (15%), 6+ trips (5%)

Almost half (46%) plan to travel domestically, while around a quarter will travel either internationally (27%), or both domestically and internationally (28%)

• US: Domestic (70%), International (6%), both (25%)
• UK: Domestic (31%), International (32%), both (37%)
• AUS: Domestic (57%), International (16%), both (27%)
• JP: Domestic (80%), International (5%), both (15%)
• SG: Domestic (4%), International (68%), both (28%)

Over half of travelers globally (55%) plan to spend more on travel this upcoming season compared to the same period last year.

• US: 60%
• UK: 46%
• AUS: 50%
• JP: 57%
• SG: 68%

Only two in five respondents (41%) said macroeconomic factors will change how they travel over the next three months.

• US: 41% (41% will take shorter trips, 37% will take fewer trips)
• UK: 32% (48% will take shorter trips, 40% will take fewer trips)
• AUS: 29% (38% will take shorter trips, 32% will take fewer trips)
• JP: 47% (36% will take shorter trips, 18% will take fewer trips)
• SG: 50% (43% will take shorter trips, 39% will take fewer trips)

Cost/affordability (65%) is nearly twice as important to respondents as other factors such as trip length (38%) and trip type (35%) when planning a vacation.

• US: Cost/affordability (62%), trip length (41%), trip type (36%)
• UK: Cost/affordability (71%), trip length (45%), trip type (45%)
• AUS: Cost/affordability (72%), trip length (45%), trip type (32%)
• JP: Cost/affordability (71%), trip length (27%), trip type (35%)
• SG: Cost/affordability (63%), trip length (38%), trip type (21%)

Top Destinations

• Dates of search: January 10  – April 10, 2023
• Dates of travel: May 29 – August 31, 2023

Global

United States

United Kingdom

Australia

Japan

Singapore

Most popular day and week to travel by country – June 01 to August 31, 2023

Methodology
The data cited in this release was gathered and analyzed from two key sources:

A Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, based on data drawn from an online survey of over 2,400 consumers, in partnership with Qualtrics, conducted between March 17-27, 2023 across six countries – Australia, Italy, Japan, Singapore, U.K. & U.S.

Site behavioral data sourced from first party traffic data on the Tripadvisor platform, gathered between January 10 2023- April 10 2023, for searches made by travelers in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Japan and Singapore for travel between June 01 through August 31, 2023.

Authors
This report was compiled by Tripadvisor’s research (Alice Jong) and communications (Duncan Skehens) teams in partnership with survey results conducted by Qualtrics Research.