New Study Sheds Light on Global Summer Vacation Trends

More than two-thirds of Americans plan to take a vacation this summer, according to Generali Global Assistance's (GGA) 19th annual Holiday Barometer.

While 68 percent of U.S. travelers indicated that they'll be getting away this season they'll be doing so on a slightly smaller budget. According to the travel insurance and assistance provider, Americans' travel budget for 2019 reduced by 10 percent to $2,373.

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Interestingly, Europeans saw their budget increase by 3 percent to $2,269. However, only 63 percent of European travelers said they plan on taking a summer vacation.

Americans trail Europeans and even Brazilians in how much vacation time they'll set aside this year at an average of 1.4 weeks. Brazil led all respondents at 2.2 weeks and Europe was close behind at an average of 1.8 weeks.

Half of U.S. travelers will vacation domestically this summer while 35 percent are undecided, according to GGA's Holiday Barometer. Americans are split on beach (45 percent) and city (42 percent) destinations while a majority of Europeans (62 percent) and Brazilians (50 percent) prefer the beach.

Interestingly, 46 percent of Americans indicated they would like to spend their summer vacation camping. That's compared to just 28 percent of Europeans.

When it comes to unplugging, Europeans and Brazilians fare far better than U.S. travelers. Only 54 percent of Americans said they would be disconnecting completely during vacation while 50 percent also indicated they would spend 30 minutes to two hours working on vacation.

More than three-fourths of U.K. vacationers said they would unplug, with travelers from France (71 percent), Italy (67 percent) and Brazil (63 percent) not far behind.

"In the 19th annual holiday barometer, we have seen the consolidation of many of the positive trends we have recognized in recent years," said Chris Carnicelli, CEO of GGA. "While Americans have experienced a 10 percent reduction in their travel budgets, they are still the highest of those surveyed."

Travelers across the board seem to be in agreement that budget is the most important factor in making summer vacation plans. For Americans, taking part in leisure and cultural activities ranks second, followed by climate, risk of a personal attack and risk of a terrorist attack.

Overall, travelers around the world are less concerned about terrorism compared to recent years, the study found.

Conducted on behalf of GGA's parent company, Europ Assistance by consumer research firm Ipsos, this year's study polled 1,000 adult consumers in each of 12 different countries, including the U.S., U.K., Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, Poland and Brazil.