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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When reviewing the past twelve months, we see a time period marked by peaks and valleys in the tourism industry, and consumer confidence in general. Across the United States, post pandemic market recovery in the hotel segment showed continued improvement through April 2022, followed by a series of uneven performance months due to tougher economic conditions. While greater inflationary pressures are still present, price growth rate has slowed and cost of travel should have less of a dampening effect on the travel and tourism sector. We did notice some market softening in the latter half of 2022 in Sonoma County, but on the jobs front, between December 2021 and December 2022, an additional 2,100 jobs were added in the leisure and hospitality sector in the county. 2023 will continue to test the resilience of the labor market, and the full return of group business and international travel is poised to contribute to overall market growth in a meaningful way.
Although the post pandemic recovery isn’t occurring in a linear way, the state of U.S. travel sentiment clearly improved in January, with a six point drop among those who agree or strongly agree that inflation will impact their decision to travel in the next six months (Longwoods International). This also marks a significant milestone in the pandemic’s impact on travel with over half of Americans (55%) saying the pandemic no longer influences their travel plans—this sentiment reflects an eight-point increase in just one month. While some predictions anticipate that the economic downturn will ease in Q3 this year, we will closely monitor consumer sentiment, visitor spending and lodging performance in the first two quarters this year to determine if market recovery will occur at a swifter pace.
Here are a few insights that will continue to shape the 2023 travel year:
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Easing inflation and GDP growth seem to have abated Americans’ economic anxieties to some degree. The percent of American travelers who report that inflation led them to cancel a trip dropped to 27% after peaking at 36% in June 2022. Travel costs have abated as a travel deterrent compared to last month. Currently, 42% of American travelers say high travel prices have kept them from traveling in the past month, down from 49% in December. This shift marks a rebound in the percent of Americans who say the present is a good time to spend on leisure travel—at 30%, this is the highest it has been since last summer.
In a recent survey of 790 business travelers, most expect to take more trips in the next six months, highlighting the growing benefits and value of face-to-face meetings. Even though business travel spending is steadily increasing, budgets remain lower than 2019 levels. Spending expectations are highest for group business travel to attend conferences, conventions, and trade shows. Similar to previous quarters, developing relationships is considered the most critical component of business travel to job performance for both business travelers (42%) and corporate executives (68%).
Some key highlights from the latest AHLA report indicate that inflation for hospitality-related products will continue to run 5% to upwards of 10% for the next few quarters, which is more than double the historical average. Guests rank cleanliness, price, flexibility, and sustainability as critical; pandemic-era precautions less so. Meetings and events will come back strong. 70% of planners surveyed for the company’s Fall 2022 Planner Pulse Report were either booking or actively sourcing new events, and 61% expected to have larger budgets in 2023. Operators are adopting technology to personalize offers and cater to the unique desires of their guests. Of most importance is it’s critical that the hotel segment remain agile as 2022 has shown us that consumers can change loyalties at speed.
YouGov’s 2023 U.S. hotel rankings provides not only a master view of brand consideration, but also a floor-level picture of which brands are doing best with which target consumer segments. This includes data underscoring the importance of length of stay, reason for selecting hotels, most improved hotels ranking, and hotel brand preference among leisure, business and high-income travelers. From a purely brand perspective, this report provides insights into who has the staying power with American travelers in 2023.
More than 900 million tourists traveled internationally in 2022—double the number recorded in 2021 though still 63% lower than pre-pandemic levels. The latest UNWTO Confidence Index shows cautious optimism for January – April 2023, higher than the same period in 2022. This optimism is backed by the opening of Asian markets, as well as strong demand from the United States backed by a strong U.S. dollar. Europe will continue to enjoy strong travel flows from the U.S., partly due to a weaker Euro versus the U.S. dollar. In Sonoma County, Q4, 2022, visitors from Mexico, U.K. Australia, Germany, and France demonstrated the greatest length of stay, averaging approximately 5 days.
A recent report released by the World Economic Forum underscores the “say-do gap” in sustainable travel –the discrepancy between what travelers say, in the form of their attitudes or intentions, and what they eventually do, in terms of actual booking or buying behavior. What appears to be lacking is a suite of sustainable travel products. This includes highlighting greater awareness of accelerated growth rates of more sustainable travel products in the wake of the industry’s post-COVID recovery as travelers increasingly emphasize a wish to make sustainable choices. At least initially, this can bridge the gap between perceived and actual support for sustainable travel initiatives without undermining travelers’ motivations in confidently adopting sustainable alternatives.
The future of Black tourism is expansion. Black travelers seek destinations and activities that are in line with their cultural and personal interests. And, often are looking for ways to support communities and businesses run by people of color. Some experts in the travel sector predict this trend will lead to an increase in the number of Black-owned travel companies, as well as the creation of new travel experiences targeted at this ever-growing market. Cultural experiences are one of the most important motivators for Black travelers booking trips; this includes the need for highlighting voluntourism opportunities, and a greater awareness that travel is a necessary part of self-care, finding and fueling one’s purpose, self-discovery, and service.
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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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