To get your full statistics fix, with data from STR, AirDNA, and the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport, check out the Monthly Tourism Destination Data Dashboard at sonomacounty.com/statistics.
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Today's Takeaways
From SCT's senior research manager, Conrad Braganza
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As the travel and tourism sector continues to navigate an uneven recovery, it’s critical to underscore ever-evolving leisure and business consumer preferences and expectations. People are traveling the world with new eyes; with new ways of working and living, and with summer travel within view, here are the top 5 trends that are influencing traveler’s behaviors, attitudes, and expectations:
1. 23% of all U.S. adults expect to take a leisure trip within the next 1-3 months. 78% plan to travel domestically, while 29% expect to take an international trip. On the average, 62% of American travelers expect to travel to larger cities, while 52% are looking to explore small rural towns, a trend that has been consistent since 2021.
2. 53% of travelers expect to travel using their own car, while 44% still plan to fly to their destination. On a national level, 45% of Americans prefer to stay in a chain hotel and 23% expect to stay in a vacation rental in the next three months.
3. The share of U.S. adults who trusted airlines rose to 64% in March 2023, an increase of 4 percentage points since February. This also coincides with the 34% of all U.S. adults who have already booked a trip within the last month—the highest point within the last two years.
4. The top five categories influencing current leisure bookings are: desire to get away (60% of travelers); visiting friends and family (43%); traveling for a special event (19%); money saved up for vacation (18%) and vacation time from work (15%).
5. On the average, 8% of all U.S. adults expect to take a business trip within the next 1-3 months. However, among frequent business travelers, 16% of this segment expects to travel within the next 1-3 months. Although hotels remain the primary choice of accommodation among business travelers, there has been a steady increase in staying in vacation rentals and with family and friends, demonstrating the undeniable rise of ‘bleisure’, combing business and leisure while working remotely.
Here are a few more trends influencing the travel outlook this Spring:
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Despite the challenges of the current financial sentiment, nearly 85% of American travelers have trips planned. Although there has been a slight decline in their optimism about the number of trips in the coming months, the typical American traveler expects to take 3.5 leisure trips in the next 12-months, up from 2.9 reported at the same time a year ago. On the average, travelers have more than 15 days devoted to travel this year. The main deterrents to travel are down overall, notably gas prices (34%) and airfare (24%) being too expensive and too many crowds (12%). Prioritizing luxury travel experiences has reached a 12-month high at 49.2%, a 10-point increase than at the same time last year.
Across the U.S., February 2023 travel spending was +5% greater than 2019 levels; contracted DMO/CVB group bookings registered a 12% growth in February, the first positive reading since November 2022. Although overseas arrivals remain 31% below 2019 levels, travel from India shows the greatest recovery, and Europeans markets (U.K., France, Germany) continue to outperform Asian counterparts (Japan, China and South Korea). Average earnings among Leisure and Hospitality workers continues to outpace the private sector and were up 27% from 2019 levels.
The pandemic produced a revolution in the events industry that required planners to re-learn and re-think everything from business models and sponsorship to event technology and content delivery. This comprehensive bullet point list provides detailed insights into top factors driving destination and venue selection; trends in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the meetings space; meeting design criteria; spending and budget; factors driving greater return on investment; sustainability and technology trends that will shape the meetings space in 2023.
A recent study revealed that non-stop direct flights not only make traveling more pleasant, but also increase innovation and new ideas generated in a destination. After examining flight and patent data, the study concluded that a 10% increase in nonstop flights between two locations also led to a 1.4% increase in patents between firms in those places. Another key finding of the study is that meeting face-to-face, made easier with nonstop flights, matters most when collaborators are in different time zones, or in an area that is culturally different from one’s home location, zip code or community. This demonstrates that even in a hybrid world, we still need to meet colleagues in person for business and social purposes.
According to Key Data, the average length of stay in urban markets across the U.S. is up 8.7% over 2022 levels. This increase is particularly reflective from January to April, with a 10-12 percentage point increase. However, in rural markets the average length of stay has marginally decreased by 5.6% YoY. This in part is indicative of several factors, including the return of business travel, more people traveling to gateway cities, people relocating to be closer to the workplace, and more cities that are fully open to travelers as restrictions lessen across the globe.
It’s worth reminding ourselves that as we develop new audiences, particularly “high value” customers, value isn’t restricted to finances—perhaps a high-value traveler could also offer social, cultural, or educational benefit to our community as well. Since values are defined as principles or standards of behavior, valuing something means believing it is worthy, important, and deserving. In this light, high-value travelers travel with a deep sense of curiosity, interest, and respect for the communities they’re in. While they may not seek out the priciest area hotel, or book a multi-day tour, they ask questions, seek out meaningful experiences, and travel with an open mind.
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STR Tracking for Sonoma County
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Things to Note:
- STR is comparing “Weekly Year Over Year.”
- Full County participation is approximately 53% of hotel properties and 78% of rooms.
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Total hotel supply rooms in Sonoma County in December 2022: 7,699 rooms.
- The average from other destinations includes Napa, Palm Springs, Monterey, South Lake Tahoe, Vallejo/Napa Valley, and San Luis Obispo.
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STR is the recognized leader in hospitality industry benchmarking around the globe. Powered by the world's largest hotel data sample, they deliver confidential data, accurate and actionable insights, and comprehensive solutions to empower decisions. Discover how STR collects data, how it is calculated, and a glossary of terms, by clicking here.
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Occupancy Data for Hotels & Short Term Lodgings
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*Please note the charts below contain different date ranges. |
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Air Travel Year over Year
At Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport
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Recent Travel by Month
At Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport
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