Travel abroad set for 2023 surge as Americans eye Asia, Europe trips

Americans are poised to travel internationally in a big way in 2023.

As Covid-19 fears subside and the last vestiges of pandemic-era border restrictions have eased, households continue to unleash two to three years’ worth of stagnant demand.

The US dollar also remains relatively strong against other currencies. EURhybrid work styles offer greater flexibility for large-scale travel, and some airlines Added new long haul routes To overseas destinations, according to travel experts.

Erin Florio, Executive Editor of Condé Nast Traveler, said:

According to a recent survey by tourism market research firm Destination Analysts, 31% of Americans are more interested in traveling internationally than traveling domestically. This was his highest since the start of the year, up 6 points from February. Researchwas published in November.

Meanwhile, 62% of 2023 flight searches in the first week of December were to international destinations, up from 55% in the same period last year, according to a recent Hopper. reportHe named international travel among the top three trends for 2023, saying it was “ready for a big comeback.”

Searches for international flights on Kayak are up 1.3% from a year ago, according to the company. data As of December 18th. Domestic flights decreased by 13%.

According to data from online travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth, the percentage of international trips Americans purchased travel insurance in 2022 reached 2019 levels for the first time during the pandemic. This trend continues for trips booked in 2023.

In 2020 and 2021, amid health concerns and Covid-related restrictions abroad, such as testing requirements, mandatory quarantines, and a complete ban on foreign tourists, the majority of American travelers will travel to the United States. I stayed within the border.Visiting US National Parks Boom and RV rentals soared Because vacationing outdoors offered the benefits of both travel and relative virus safety.

Now the fear of the virus has faded. According to Destination Analysts, in September, more travelers were not worried about catching Covid than were worried.

2022 is It’s also the year for big trips abroad — However, virus cases spiked towards the end of 2021 and into the new year, boosted by the highly contagious Omicron variant, somewhat weakened enthusiasmsaid the expert.

Jessica Griscavage, Travel Advisor and CEO of Runway Travel, said: “We missed a trip for a couple of years.”

This so-called “revenge tripThe trend — a term recently coined to describe burgeoning, pent-up wanderlust — coincides with the relaxation of health rules abroad and at home.

America Removed Covid testing requirements For inbound air travelers from overseas in June. This rule also applied to U.S. citizens, who were required to take a negative test within one day of flying.

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Many countries have also completely closed their borders to foreign tourists. Most are now welcoming visitors again. Especially for those who have the Covid vaccine.

Kayak says fully vaccinated tourists can access 197 countries without testing or quarantine for Covid-19, and another 16 are open but require testing. data.

“We’ve come so far as to go anywhere,” said Florio.

Only 12 countries, including China, Libya, Turkmenistan and Yemen, are still closed to vaccinated Americans, according to Kayak.

Many countries have more restrictions for unvaccinated people.About 69% of Americans fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Recommendation Get the latest information on vaccines before traveling abroad.

many countries — including Australia, Bhutan, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, new zealand, Philippines When Singapore — Relaxation of border closures 2022Many European countries also Dropped American test requirements. (Travelers should U.S. Department of State website country-specific Covid restrictions).

In addition Surge in remote work during the pandemic Nitya Chambers, executive editor and senior vice president of content at Lonely Planet, says Lonely Planet “makes to-do list travel more real.”

In fact, Hopper found that 67% of travelers travel more often and 20% travel farther due to the flexibility of working remotely.

Asia Pacific Calm down Travel experts say 2023 will see the biggest bounce, with widespread reopening in the second half of 2022.

Japan is probably seeing the biggest surge in interest, they said. resumed Travelers will be able to enter the country from 11 October, but some restrictions remain.

“You can hardly talk about travel without Japan being mentioned in 2023,” Florio said, adding that Australia and New Zealand are also “massive.”

Asia has the fastest growth in demand of all regions, according to Hopper data shows that 27% of international flight searches are to Asian cities, up from 19% last year.

In fact, eight of the top 10 most popular international destinations in early December were in Asia and Oceania, Hopper said. Tokyo; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. and Bangkok are the top three, with airfares averaging around $1,200 per round trip ticket.

International tour operator G Adventures will see the fastest growth in sales in Japan, Thailand and Vietnam in 2023, said managing director Ben Perlo. His November this year was a record month for the company. Sales in his three countries in Asia each beat his November 2019 figure, he said.

But Hopper said Europe remains the most popular destination in terms of total volume, with European cities accounting for a third of all international flight searches, about the same as in 2021.

Long-term rentals (28 days or more) are “significantly more popular in the Asia-Pacific region than they were a year ago,” said an AirBnb spokesperson. However, most long-term stays are in Europe and North America.

According to Google Flight data, Europe’s major hub airports were among the top searched by Sept. 30 this year. London ranked first, followed by Paris (third) and Rome (sixth). ), followed by Lisbon (9th). Ho Chi Minh City came in second, while other Asian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai also ranked high (4th and 7th respectively).

According to a recent poll by Destination Analysts, Italy, the UK and France ranked 1st, 3rd and 5th respectively among the top foreign travel destinations for 2023. (Canada, Mexico, and Japan come in 2nd, 4th, and 6th respectively)

“Everyone wants to go to Europe,” said Griscavage. ‘It was a destination that everyone missed in the pandemic’

Because of demand, people are becoming more “creative” about how they travel to Europe, she added. season, probably March or late autumn at the earliest.

According to Expedia, global travel demand is evolving in a similar fashion, with Europe and Asia being the most interesting. dataEdinburgh, Scotland and Sydney, Australia ranked first and sixth respectively. fringethe world’s largest arts and media festival, and world pridesaid Expedia.

However, travel is not without its headwinds.Value is especially important to travelers whose budget is high inflationOverall airfare and hotel prices have risen 36% and 3% respectively over the past year, according to the Consumer Price Index.

Hopper said international travel is set to get even more expensive next year, but the consumer price index has signaled downward trends in airfare, hotel and car rental prices in recent months. Despite these economic uncertainties, the desire to travel abroad will increase through 2022, Said destination analyst.

The Euro is trading at historically weak levels against the US Dollar, which means Americans I was able to get a bargain when booking the trip To countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Portugal. That dynamic likely drives at least some of its popularity, he says, Perlo. (The euro has strengthened a bit in recent weeks, though.)

“The current economy and prices are not stopping people from traveling,” Chambers said. “People are at home, they want to go back there, they have a list of things they want to experience and they are doing it.”