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Take and change
High gas prices and inflation didn’t dampen demand for Labor Day weekend travel, as Americans endured long enough economic turmoil to figure out how much they could afford to spend on travel.
Rashad Jordan
About 53 percent of American adults plan to take a trip over the Labor Day holiday weekend, although about the same percentage say high gas prices are affecting their travel plans, according to a recent survey by The Vacationer.
An estimated 137 million Americans plan to travel over the holiday weekend, a figure similar to the number who planned to travel during the same period last year. That bodes well for the travel industry’s recovery, believes Vacationer founder Eric Jones.
“For the first time since the start of the pandemic, holiday travel over the year is actually level,” Jones said. The (travel) slowdown from (Covid) will soon be in the rearview mirror.
Although the pain at the pump is still on the minds of American consumers. Half of US adults said higher gas prices would affect their Labor Day travel plans, despite a recent drop, a figure that was unchanged from the Fourth of July weekend. Air fares are expected to increase 20 percent this Labor Day weekend from the same period in 2019. About 17 percent of survey respondents said gas prices are affecting planned Labor Day trips because they want to fly.
But with 14 percent of Americans planning to travel primarily by plane for Labor Day, higher this year than the Fourth of July and Memorial Day weekend, he said consumers are optimizing their travel spending rather than canceling trips.
Some people choose to take a reduced or cheaper trip than they originally planned. he said. “With gas prices and inflation on the minds of Americans, they want to save money by spending less on dining, vacations and other extras while on vacation.”
Less than 36 percent of survey respondents primarily travel by car over Labor Day weekend. That’s down roughly 7 and 13 percent from the figures for the Fourth of July and Memorial Day weekends, respectively. Meanwhile, 53 percent of respondents said they would take some kind of road trip over Labor Day weekend, with those who chose to do so mostly wanting to do so closer to home. Overall, 26 percent of survey respondents plan to take a road trip within 100 miles of their home, and 13.5 percent plan to stay within a 250-mile radius. Only 13.2 percent planned to take a road trip of more than 500 miles.
While the number of Americans planning Labor Day trips is about the same as this year’s Fourth of July travel demand, it’s 6 percentage points lower than the number planning Memorial Day trips. Although Labor Day is the last big chance shoppers have for a summer trip, Jones said the Memorial Day weekend had the potential to be a prime opportunity for consumers to make a revenge trip after a long Covid-induced hiatus.
“The reality of the start of the Memorial Day summer travel season has allowed for a little more travel demand,” he said.
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