RICHMOND, Va.—Fewer Americans will travel, but spend more, on summer vacations, according to the eighth annual Allianz Travel Insurance Vacation Confidence Index released by Allianz Global Assistance.
The amount of money Americans will spend on their vacation, on average, has increased significantly, according to the survey. The average American household that is at least somewhat confident they will take a vacation this summer will spend $1,798 on average, up roughly 11 percent from last year’s average of $1,621 per household. The total projected spend for Americans on summer vacations in 2016 is $89.9 billion, up from $85.5 billion in 2015.
The survey, which tracks Americans’ confidence that they will be able to take a summer vacation and reports how much they intend to spend while vacationing, revealed that while half (50 percent, down one point since last year) of Americans are confident (36 percent very/14 percent somewhat) they’ll take a vacation in 2016, four in ten (39 percent, up three points) are not confident (26 percent not at all/12 percent not very). One in 10 (10 percent, no change) have already taken a vacation this year while less than one percent (down three points from last year) are unsure.
Even though the proportion of Americans who remain confident that they’ll take a vacation in 2016 is holding steady, the survey found a rising proportion of Americans (65 percent) who say that taking an annual vacation is important to them (36 percent very/29 percent somewhat), up a significant eight points since last year and rebounding to levels last recorded in 2010.
“With vacation spending up, travel insurance should be near the top of the trip planning checklist,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “The right travel insurance policy will protect a consumer’s pre-paid travel expenses when they have to cancel their trip due to certain unexpected situations such as a covered illness or injury and will provide reimbursements for things like medical emergencies, delayed travel and lost or delayed baggage.”
Allianz Travel Insurance’s Vacation Confidence Index also found an increase in the Vacation Deficit, or percentage of Americans who think that a vacation is important but are not confident they’ll be able to take one. In 2016, nearly one quarter (22 percent) of Americans who say an annual vacation is important to them are not confident that they’ll take a vacation, compared to nearly one in five (19 percent) in 2015, representing a Vacation Deficit increase of three points, the first increase since dropping five points between 2013 and 2015.
Americans are facing a Vacation Deficit for summer specific travel as well: one in three (34 percent) Americans are not confident that they’ll take a summer vacation this year, an increase in three points over 2015. Four in ten (43 percent) are confident (32 percent very/11 percent somewhat) that they’ll get a summer vacation this year, down from 46 percent last year, which was the highest figure recorded since 2010.
The Vacation Confidence Index has been conducted each summer since 2010 by national polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Allianz Global Assistance USA. A vacation is defined as a leisure trip of at least a week to a place that is 100 miles or more from home.
