06/22/2022
Updates 06/24/2022: Ohio's Travel Industry and Current Travel Research
UPDATED FORECAST SHOWS IMPACT OF PANDEMIC ON LOST DOMESTIC TRAVEL, BUSINESS TRAVEL AND INBOUND TRAVEL
Key findings from Tourism Economics and US Travel released June 2022:
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Domestic leisure travel spending has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, even when adjusted for inflation—though it is projected to remain $46 billion below where it should have been in 2022 if not for the pandemic.
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Domestic business travel is finally picking up and volume is expected to reach 81% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 96% in 2023. Nevertheless, spending, when adjusted for inflation, will not fully recover to pre-pandemic levels within the range of the forecast.
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International inbound travel is making a big comeback, aided by the recent drop of pre-departure testing. It is projected to grow rapidly through the rest of 2022, and then grow at a slower pace in 2023-2026. A full recovery to pre-pandemic levels (volume and spending) is not expected until 2025.
WITH INDEPENDENCE DAY AROUND THE CORNER AND RISING GAS PRICES, AMERICAN TRAVELERS STILL PLAN TO TAKE A TRIP OVER THE LONG WEEKEND
Key findings from AAA prepared May 23, 2022:
- A record number of Ohioans are expected to travel this Independence Day which is outpacing the U.S. While national travel numbers are expected to fall just shy of 2019, AAA expects Ohio travel will build on the record travel numbers set in 2021 to reach a new high this Independence Day.
- Though gas prices are historically high, 42 million Americans , nearly 2.1 million Ohioans, are planning a road trip for the holiday weekend.
- AAA predicts air travel will grow 1.5% nationally. However, with just over 70,000 Ohioans flying during the long weekend, Ohio air travel will fall 1.2% compared to last Independence Day.
- With a large number of Americans traveling and high demand for accommodations, availability may be limited which will impact pricing:
- AAA found airfare is 14% more than last year
- Mid-range hotel rates have increased about 23%
- Daily car rental rate have decreased 34% compared to last year
DESTINATION MARKETERS SAY USER EXPERIENCE, DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY, INTEGRATION AND CONTENT ARE BIGGEST STRUGGLES WITH WEBSITES
Key findings from MMGY completed June 2022:
Survey respondents were more than 155 destination marketers.
- 60% said their primary focus of their website is to inspire.
- Only 50% say they are somewhat satisfied with their website.
- As for what makes them unsatisfied:
- About 56% say technical performance make them unsatisfied
- About 27% say performance of site objectives
- About 41% say content unsatisfied them
- 81% say both user experience and design make them feel unsatisfied
- When asked what changes were needed to improve user experience, a high of 46% said navigation and information architecture and low of 20% said technical performance.
- An equal 8% said they plan to spend both more and less time on their website.
- Why do destination marketers plan to spend more time on their website?
- 51% said they are integrating new technology
- 44% said they are increasing web content production
- 44% said they are building a new website
- 37% said they are refreshing their existing website
- Why do destination marketers plan to spend less time on their website?
- 38% said they are shifting budget to other than advertising
- 31% said they recently launched a new website
- 31% said they recently refreshed their existing website
- 23% said they are decreasing web content production
- As for monetizing their organizations website, 38% said they are not monetizing their website.
- When asked how satisfied destination marketers are with existing email marketing platform:
- 20% are extremely satisfied
- 43% are somewhat satisfied
- 25% are neutral
- 1% are not satisfied at all
- When asked if destination marketers are using their platform’s automation capabilities to deliver automated email messages, 59% said yes and 41% said no.