2023 spring travel trends

Spring has officially sprung. And with it, we can expect to see travelers exploring destinations near and far across the United States — particularly for weekend getaways, according to our latest joint survey with Allison + Partners.¹ Of Americans with spring travel plans, 76% are planning a quick weekend trip and 67% are planning a long weekend excursion.

Of course, while travelers are setting their sights on a diverse set of weekend getaway destinations this spring, they’re also tightening their belts. Nearly 90% of U.S. consumers who plan to travel this season have shifted their planning to be more budget conscious.

For a closer look into traveler trends this spring, here are more insights from our spring travel survey.

Exploration is back on the map

• For the majority of travelers, the destination is the motivation: 31% say where they’re traveling motivates them to travel most, more so than who they’re going with and the experiences they’ll have while they’re there (28% each).
• Destinations run the gamut, with 48% of travelers planning to visit a waterfront destination, 42% planning to visit an urban or city destination, and 36% planning to visit an attraction-based destination like Las Vegas or Disney World. Also making the cut: outdoor recreation (36%), wellness retreats (20%), and movie/TV show set destinations (20%).²
• This spring, road trips rule: 74% of Americans say they plan to drive to a spring vacation destination, whether by car or RV, and 44% say they plan to fly.²

Spending less is top of mind

• Of consumers who plan to travel this spring, 88% say they’ve shifted their plans or planning behavior to be more budget conscious—with 34% opting to drive to their destination instead of flying, 32% monitoring prices to book when they find a deal, and 31% scheduling their trip around the least expensive days and weeks to travel.²
• A quarter of travelers say they’ve booked their travel well in advance to save money, while a similar percentage plan to spend less once they get to their destination.

Vacation rentals have a winning edge

• Among the 36% of travelers booking vacation homes for spring trips, 65% say they chose a vacation rental because they offer the best value for their money. (Other big reasons travelers are choosing vacation homes include access to private amenities like kitchens and laundry (55%), access to recreation and entertainment amenities (46%), and more unique and design-centric experiences (32%).)²
• More than half of Americans (51%) say they’d travel somewhere to stay in a unique vacation rental like a treehouse or off-grid dome house. (This is especially true for hybrid workers (69%) and parents (59%).)