PATRICK CLARKE | TravelPulse.Com
Troy Warren for CNT
Allianz Partners USA has released its 13th annual Vacation Confidence Index, predicting that American travelers will spend a jaw-dropping $153.7 billion on summer vacation in 2021.
The impressive figure marks a 160 percent increase over last year’s pandemic-stricken season and a surprising 50 percent increase over the summer of 2019 long before the COVID-19 crisis came into frame.
Each individual household is expected to spend an average of $2,122 on summer vacation this year, based on Allianz’s research, which is up considerably from $1,888 last year and $2,037 in 2019. Plus, six out of 10 survey respondents indicated that they were confident that they would take a summer vacation or leisure trip of at least one week and 100 miles or more away from home in 2021, up significantly from just 26 percent last year and 42 percent in 2019.
Of nearly one-third of Americans (29 percent) who said they were not confident they would take a vacation this year, 38 percent said they didn’t want to spend the money on travel.
“Our annual Vacation Confidence Index shows that the concept of pent-up demand is real and will likely translate to $150 billion in vacation spending, which will shatter all previous records,” Daniel Durazo, director of marketing and communications at Allianz Partners USA, said in a statement to Travel Weekly.
The study is based on an Ipsos poll of just over 2,000 Americans who were questioned between May 24 to 28, 2021.
Allianz’s study comes as new reports show domestic travel is rebounding to a point of near-full recovery, with American Express CEO Steve Squeri recently revealing that bookings this past May were 95 percent of what they were for the same month two years ago.
