So much for those unused vacation days. Looks like America is headed out on vacation and they are spending big.
A new survey from Allianz Global Assistance revealed that U.S. travelers will be spending more than $100 billion on vacations this summer alone.
This is the first time that spending has surpassed $100 billion and is a 12.5 percent increase over last year.
"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.
"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.
According to the survey, Americans will spend $1,978 on average on summer vacations. That is a 10 percent increase from last year, during which they spent $1,798 on travel during the summer. In 2015, Americans spent $1,621.
When broken down by generation, the data shows that Gen-Xers-travelers between the ages of 35-54-will be spending the most amount of money on travel: $2,628 Millennials will be spending the least ($1,373) this summer while boomers will spend nearly as much as Gen-X: $1,865.
These numbers make sense as millennials are more likely to travel solo, and Gen-Xers are now more frequently traveling with children.
American travelers also have more confidence that they will be able to take a vacation this year, according to the Allianz Vacation Confidence Index.
Results showed that more than four in 10 are confident they will take a summer break, 34 percent are somewhat confident and slightly more than half are confident about the prospect of a vacation at some point in 2017.
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There was also little to no change in the Vacation Deficit, which is the percentage of Americans who think that a vacation is important but are not confident they'll be able to take one.
Only 21 percent of Americans who say an annual vacation is important to them are not confident that they will take one this year. That number is down one point from 2016 but is still higher than in 2015, when the Vacation Deficit was just 19 percent.
Overall, with Americans planning and spending more on vacation, it's increasingly important to protect these investments, both in time and money, with insurance.
"The right travel insurance policy can protect a consumer's pre-paid travel expenses when they have to cancel their trip due to certain unexpected situations, such as a covered illness or injury, and it may also provide reimbursements for things like medical emergencies, delayed travel, and lost or delayed baggage," noted Durazo.
Investing in making the experience as good as it can possibly be almost always pay off in the end.
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