August 2024
Travel abroad: Taking off or landing?
Travel spending is slowing, but consumers are still taking vacations – especially abroad.
Key takeaways
- As peak summer travel season comes to a close, travel spending growth has cooled, having fallen 1.1% year-over-year (YoY) from January to mid-August. Yet, trip taking remains strong compared to pre-pandemic levels and air traffic passenger volumes have reached the highest level in five years.
- A key part of travel momentum lies within vacationing abroad, with the absolute share of international in-person spending greatest in Europe over the May-July summer months, perhaps boosted by events such as the Olympics and Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.
- Will travel hold up through the rest of the year? Against the macro backdrop of overall consumer spending moderation, overall travel could remain buoyant, but growth is likely to continue at a slower pace than what we saw in 2023.
Read our full analysis for a more in-depth look at these trends.
