Summer Travel Survey & Trends 2023 — Nearly 85% to Travel, 42% to Travel More than Last Summer, More than 54% to Fly on a Plane, 100 Million to Road Trip Over 250 Miles

Do you plan on traveling this summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes, one time. — 40.71%
• Yes, more than once. — 44.05%
• No. — 15.24%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — American adults over 60 years old are the least likely to have intentions of traveling this summer. Only 73.51% of people over the age of 60 intend to travel. However, 90% of American adults aged 30-44 intend to travel this summer. And, 88.43% of those aged 45-60 intend to do so. Lastly, even 86.78% of the youngest 18 to 29-year-old generation has intentions to travel this summer.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 85% of all American adults intend to travel this summer. The 84.76% of people that said this include the 40.71% that said they will travel one time only and the 44.05% that said they will travel more than once. Based on the most recent census, the 84.76% means nearly 219 million American adults intend to travel this summer. And, it means 5% more people have intentions to travel at least once this summer when compared to our 2022 survey.

Where will you travel this summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• I won’t travel this summer. — 15.34%
• Domestically only. — 61.75%
• Internationally only. — 6.39%
• Both Domestically and Internationally. — 16.52%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — American adults in the Middle Atlantic region are the most likely to intend to travel internationally this summer. 31.12% of people in this region said they intend to do so. The Middle Atlantic region contains the states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Conversely, American adults in the West North Central region are the least likely to travel internationally this summer. Only 14.75% of people in this region intend to do so. The West North Central region contains the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 23% of American adults intend to travel internationally this summer. The 22.91% includes the 6.39% that said they intend to only travel internationally. It also includes the 16.52% that intend to travel both domestically and internationally. Overall, the 22.91% equates to more than 59 million American adults traveling internationally this summer. This is a 12% increase over the 20.44% that stated they intended to travel internationally in our 2022 summer travel survey.

How much traveling will you do this summer compared to last summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• More than Last Summer. — 41.69%
• The Same as Last Summer. — 45.33%
• Less than Last Summer. — 12.98%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Women are more likely than men to say they intend to travel more this summer than last summer. 43.17% of women said they intend to travel more. On the other hand, only 39.96% of men said they will. Men are more likely to say they will travel less this summer. 14.53% of men said they intend to travel less this summer. However, only 11.66% of women said they intend to travel less this summer.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 42% of American adults say they intend to travel more this summer than last. Only 12.98% of American adults say they will travel less this summer than last. The 41.69% of American adults traveling more this summer represents nearly 108 million people. 108 million American adults claim they intend to travel more this summer than last. This explains why we are seeing an overall 5% increase in travel intentions from summer 2022 to summer 2023.

Will you travel on a plane this summer?

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• Yes, one time. — 30.38%
• Yes, more than once. — 23.70%
• No. — 45.92%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — The younger generation of American adults aged 18-29 is the most likely to fly on a plane this summer. In fact, as people increase in age, they are less likely to fly on a plane. 63.44% of American adults in the 18-29 age bracket intend to fly on a plane this summer. 61.11% in the 30-44 age bracket state they intend to do so. 54.10% of American adults aged 45-60 have intentions of plane travel this summer. And, lastly, only 38.10% of American adults over 60 intend to travel on a plane this summer.

Key Takeaway — More than 54% of American adults state they intend to travel on a plane this summer. The 54.08% includes the 30.38% that say they will travel one time on a plane as well as the 23.70% that say they intend to travel more than once on a plane. Overall, the 54.08% equates to over 139 million people. This is 8 million more people than those that stated they intended to fly on a plane in the summer of 2022. The increase is not surprising since TSA checkpoint volume is up year over year.

Further Reading: How to Find Cheap Summer Flights and How to Find Cheap Flights

Will you take a road trip this summer? 

Let’s take a look at the survey results:

• No. — 21.34%
• Yes, within 100 miles of my home. — 16.52%
• Yes, within 250 miles of my home. — 23.40%
• Yes, within 500 miles of my home. — 20.45%
• Yes, within 1,000 miles of my home. — 11.21%
• Yes, more than 1,000 miles from my home. — 7.08%

Interesting Demographic Comparison — Women are more likely than men to have intentions of doing a road trip this summer. 80.15% of women say they will do a road trip this summer. However, only 76.92% of men say they intend to do so. The oldest generation of American adults over age 60 is the least likely to road trip this summer.

Key Takeaway — Nearly 39% of American adults say they intend to road trip more than 250 miles from their home this summer. The 38.74% that said this includes the 20.45% that intend to road trip more than 250 miles but less than 500 miles. It also includes the 11.21% that intend to road trip at least 500 miles but less than 1,000 miles. Finally, it includes the 7.08% that intend to road trip at least 1,000 miles from home this summer. Overall, the 38.74% of American adults road-tripping more than 250 miles this summer represents 100 million people.

Survey Methodology

This 2023 Summer Travel Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 1,017 Americans over the age of 18 were polled on March 1 to March 2. Of those surveyed, 46.02% were male and 53.98% were female. The age breakdown of participants included in this survey was 22.32% in the range 18-29, 26.55% in the range 30-44, 26.35% in the range 45-60, and 24.78% over 60. This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±3.136%. You can learn more about SurveyMonkey’s sampling method by clicking here.

The questions were chosen and the results were analyzed by the post author, Eric Jones, who is a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Rowan College South Jersey.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.