Top Summer Travel Stats Every Business Needs to Know
Get in front of traveling customers this summer with billboards! Keep scrolling to read the latest Summer 2022 travel stats.
The summer is finally here – and America’s about to take it by storm.
Millions of Americans are packing suitcases, loading up SUVs, booking airline tickets, hoarding (or forgetting) sunscreen, and otherwise gearing up for an action-packed summer vacation season.
Just how crazy is it going to get?
Expedia says that due to pent-up demand thanks to the pandemic limiting summer travel over the past two years, they expect Summer 2022 to be the busiest travel season ever.
Those are big words, but the theme of this summer seems to be, “Get Me Out of the House – NOW.”
The Vacationer just released a survey about summer travel that had a few revealing stats:
- 81% of Americans are traveling this summer; 60% are staying inside the good ol’ US of A
- Only 12% of Americans say they’re going to travel less than they did last summer
- 80% of Americans say they’re going to pack up the car and take a road trip (vroom, vroom)
That means over 206 million people will be movin’ and groovin’, but where will they be spending their vacation time?
Airbnb took a look at their customer data to see which locations have been searched for the most on their platform. These are:
- Walton County, Florida
- Cape San Blas, Florida
- Mexico Beach, Florida
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Stonington, Connecticut
- Cape Coral, Florida
- Forks, Washington
- Big Sur, California
- Four Corners, Florida
- Hampton Bays, New York
What do most of these have in common? Plenty of sunshine and close proximity to the water – par for the course for summer.
(We see you, Stonington, Connecticut. And Forks – must be the Twilight connection.)
Peter Kern, Expedia’s CEO, predicts that Americans are “tired of going to national parks” and will spend most of their vacation time in cities. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (say that five times fast) agrees, finding that 78% of travelers plan on going to another city.
The big question for companies is this: How do you harness the awesome power of millions of travelers on the road for your business?
We may be biased, but roughly 206 million Americans will be spending an awful amount of time in cars, buses, and trains, driving right by billboards an untold number of times per day.
This presents an opportunity to grab the attention of a captive audience and expand your brand awareness (especially on those long trips where billboards are a welcome distraction from full-blown sibling rivalries in the back seat).
One thing that could throw a wrench in the plans is the scourge of rising gas prices. According to one survey, if gas prices continue to rise, roughly 60% of Americans will vacation closer to home (although they’re willing to pay more overall to get out of the house).
That actually makes billboard advertising even more attractive, since staying closer to home means more driving and more time spent in local markets near where they already live, work, and shop.
If you want to tap into the summer travel craze we’re all about to partake in enthusiastically, then getting in front of customers where they’re going to be should be a top priority.
Blip gives you a chance to put your brand on digital billboards on demand, where your customers are, easier and less expensive than with traditional advertising – all from the comfort of your office (or the poolside tiki bar).
Check it out here, and enjoy your summer – it’s gonna be a scorcher.
