Reason for Optimism: Forecasting Travel Recovery in the U.S.

Shortly after the U.S. reopened its land and air borders to vaccinated international visitors, U.S. Travel Association released its biannual forecast, shedding light on what the data says about current and future travel spending. Keep reading to learn what the forecast predicts is to come for the U.S. travel industry's recovery.

The forecast, based on analysis from Tourism Economics, shows an uneven recovery for the international inbound and business travel segments, while domestic leisure travel has returned to near pre-pandemic levels. It also projects that domestic leisure travel will continue to drive the U.S. travel industry's recovery in the near term. This segment is projected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and beyond.

But it's important to note that overall recovery for some segments of travel will still take some time.

Domestic business travel spending is not expected to fully recover until 2024, and though international inbound travel spending is forecasted to reach 72% of 2019 levels in 2022, the segment is not expected to fully recover until 2024 or 2025.

"While we see much reason for optimism on the horizon, our forecast reveals that travel's recovery is uneven with much work ahead to ensure all segments reach pre-pandemic levels," said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow. "We believe that the U.S. can implement smart, effective policies that bring back international visitors more quickly and spur business and professional travel to accelerate an economic and jobs rebound. Stabilizing policies can help ensure a more even recovery as we aim to restore the U.S. as the top destination in the world for global travelers."

To view the biannual forecast table, visit U.S. Travel Association.

Courtesy of Groups Today.

 Photo courtesy of U.S. Travel Bi-annual Forecast.