A New Wave of Confident Travelers Emerges Post-Pandemic

If there’s one common motto emerging among Americans this year, perhaps it is this: Travel. At all costs.

It’s hard to come away with any other conclusion after looking at the latest Vacation Confidence Index from insurance provider Allianz Partners. (Or after glancing at one's Instagram feed this summer, for that matter.)

Easily the biggest headline-making sound bite from the newly released survey is that more Americans “have already taken a vacation this year than any other time during the survey’s history.” 

To restate, more Americans have taken a vacation thus far this year than any year since 2009, when Allianz began conducting its Vacation Confidence Index.

The survey’s creators say this reality “underscores the paradigm shift that started during the pandemic around the importance of taking an annual vacation.”

The latest Vacation Confidence Index from Allianz shows record numbers of Americans emphasizing the importance of taking a vacation (Photo Credit: Courtesy Allianz)

Indeed, remember the oh-so-frequent stories of year's past about Americans being workaholics and not using their vacation time? So long to that cultural challenge. And we can apparently thank (if thank is even the appropriate word) the pandemic and its many restrictions for reinforcing the importance of squeezing in an annual vacation.

Here are some of the additional highlights of the latest Vacation Confidence Index:

• Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of Americans have taken a vacation in the last year, a five-point increase from last year and up from 48 percent in pre-pandemic 2019
• It seems, many Americans may be busy making up for any lost travel time, as 23 percent of survey participants noted that they had already taken vacation in the three months leading up to this year’s survey, the second highest point since the survey started in 2009
• At 74 percent of respondents, the stated importance of an annual vacation is higher this year than last year and the figure continues to track well above what was observed prior to the pandemic
• 66 percent meanwhile, have positive intentions to vacation this year, which is also higher and continuing to track well above previous survey results
• With Americans eager to flex their travel muscles, a quarter of the survey’s respondents (25 percent) said they are revenge traveling (hopefully this term can soon be banished from the lexicon)
• Two in five (41 percent) of Americans have excess savings earmarked for travel. That figure rises to half (51 percent) for higher income households of $100,000 or more
  
  

So, who exactly is feeling most confident about vacationing, you ask? The under 55 cohort continues to lead the pack as more likely to express confidence about vacationing with 72 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds and 68 percent of 35–54-year-olds expressing such optimism or dedication to getting a vacation in this year.

Among the 55-plus set, about 59 percent express similar vacation goals.

Money of course, does play a bit of a role here. Specifically, 79 percent of those who earn upwards of $100,000 in household income expressed optimism over taking a vacation this year versus 65 percent among those who earn $50,000 to $100,000. Among those whose annual income is under $50,000 the vacation optimism drops to 52 percent.

And to be clear, not all Americans have jumped on the ‘vacation or bust' bandwagon. The Allianz index also revealed that the so-called “vacation deficit” trend continues at least among a minority of Americans. About two in five (or 19 percent) of respondents reported that they are not confident that they’ll take a vacation in 2023.

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