US Consumers Confident, Ready to Spend on Travel

Consumer confidence is at an all-time high and Americans are looking to spend—and they are spending on travel.

That is according to research from the Conference Board.

“Consumer confidence increased to its highest level in almost 17 years (Dec. 2000, 128.6) in October after remaining relatively flat in September,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board.

“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved, boosted by the job market which had not received such favorable ratings since the summer of 2001,” Franco added.

“Consumers were also considerably more upbeat about the short-term outlook, with the prospect of improving business conditions as the primary driver. Confidence remains high among consumers, and their expectations suggest the economy will continue expanding at a solid pace for the remainder of the year.”

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While confidence is high, how consumers will spend is not as clear except for one thing: intentions to spend on travel have soared.

According to CNN, the percentage of Americans planning travel rose 11 points to 63.5 percent.

This is a huge jump from 2009, at the height of the Great Recession, when just one-third of consumers said that they were going to take a vacation.

The Consumer Confidence Survey’s indication that people are looking to spend big on vacation mirrors a survey from earlier this year that showed Americans vacation spending on the rise.

Allianz Global Assistance Vacation Confidence Index, released in July, found that, for the first time, U.S. vacation spending topped $100 billion.

“Americans are feeling better about the economy and have loosened their purse strings for summer 2017,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA.

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“We’re happy to see that, for the first time in the eight-year history of the Vacation Confidence Index, vacation spending will hit an impressive $100 billion. This new milestone is great news for the travel industry,” added Durazo.

Further indications of consumers' willingness to spend big on travel are evidenced by another study showing that Thanksgiving air travel will once again shatter records.

“Airline passengers continue to benefit from the highly competitive air-service landscape this holiday season, as low fares and increased availability of seats continue to make air travel widely accessible,” Airlines for America chief economist John Heimlich said in a statement.

The fact that more Americans are looking to spend on travel will be welcome news to businesses that are feeling the pinch from fewer international visitors coming into the U.S. as a less than welcoming message has been rolled out by the current administration.

There has been a decline of 1.4 percent in the number of international visitors coming into the U.S. since the end of January of this year.