Monthly Travel Recovery Data Report

Forward looking monthly summary of the latest economic, consumer and travel indicators, trends and analysis. This monthly member-only communication features the Travel Recovery Insights Dashboard as well as the latest data and trends affecting travel’s recovery. Analysis of the broader economy and its impact on travel will provide unique insights to help travel businesses make informed and timely decisions.

The Travel Recovery Insights Dashboard developed in collaboration with Tourism Economics, is supported by more than a dozen data sources. The dashboard is the most comprehensive and centralized source for high-frequency intelligence on the U.S. travel industry, tracking industry performance, travel volumes and predictive indicators of recovery including air and lodging forecasts, DMO website traffic, convention and group trends, travel spending and losses, traveler sentiment, among others to measure the health of the industry.

Key March Highlights:

• In February 2021, travel spending tallied just $51.4 billion—roughly the same as January—and reflected a 38% drop below February 2020 levels
• Following the May 1 goal to open vaccine eligibility to all U.S. adults, 60% are confident we will ‘return to normal’ by summer
• Close to nine in 10 (87%) of American travelers now have travel plans in the next six months—the highest level since March 2020
• The vast majority of Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) members and stakeholders (84%) say they would be comfortable traveling for business after being vaccinated
• Nonessential domestic business travel is expected to resume in the second half of 2021
• The World Travel & Tourism Council reported that global travel suffered a loss of almost $4.5 trillion in 2020 as a result of the pandemic