Updates 03/24/2023: Ohio's Travel Industry and Current Travel Research

BUSINESS TRAVEL EXPECTED TO RETURN WITH PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS IN 2024

Key findings from Spotnana, fielded December 2022 and January 2023:

Business travel managers anticipate a return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024 including business travel (74% of travel managers anticipate recovery), external meetings (77%), conference/group travel (76%) and internal meetings (69%).
Yet, one in ten U.S. travel managers say they expect business travel volumes will not return fully until 2025. This could be due to inflation and rising costs.
Rising costs and inflation are the issue now:
- 19% of U.S. travel managers report their companies have started to implement a plan to limit business travel.
- 28% of travel managers said they are unlikely to limit business travel.
- 36% of travel manager said they are monitoring the situation but not actively considering limiting business travel.

AMERICAN TRAVELERS REPORT RECORD LEVELS OF EXCITEMENT FOR TRAVEL IN 2023; GENERATIONS PREFERENCES FOR LEARNING ABOUT NEW DESTINATIONS

Key findings from Destination Analyst, fielded February 2023:

American travelers report record levels of excitement for travel in 2023. Americans say they will continue to prioritize leisure travel over home improvements, clothing, entertainment, and dining, bringing their annual spend on travel to $4,677.
When asked about their feelings on different destination types, Americans reported:
- 60% reported excitement for visiting beaches.
- 48% reported excitement for cities.
- 45% reported excitement for small towns.
The average American travelers say they plan to take 2.9 leisure trips to cities in 2023. This is up from 1.4 reported in 2019.
As for planning resources most commonly used by each generation:
- 20% of Millennial or younger, 8.4 of Gen X and 1% of Boomer or older used TikTok.
- 11% of Millennial or younger, 4% of Gen X and .8% of Boomer and older used digital influences.
- 26% of Millennial or younger, 22% of Gen X and 12% of Boomer or older used streaming video services (YouTube, Hulu, etc.)