Best Holiday Travel: Bye Bye Micro-vacations

Holiday travel seems to be seeing a trend that is reversing the concept of the micro-vacation. A harri and overwork American public had been putting off their travel plans and even forfeiting vacation time all together to keep their posts or get ahead of the pack – until the pandemic hit. 

Now, when it comes to holiday travel, Americans are planning to set their status to “out of office” more frequently and for longer stretches, even open their wallets a little wider this summer, according to this year’s 15th Annual Vacation Confidence Index from Allianz Partners USA. While the traditional week-long holiday travel or long-deserves vacation is still elusive, new research indicates travel is becoming a priority again base on longer trips and increases spend.

Best Holiday Travel

The survey notes that both travel and confidence rebounds in recent years. The average number of nights spent away has been steadily creeping up and now sits at 4.5 versus 4.3 (2022) and 4.1 (2021). The shift is beginning to erode the “micro-cation” trend coined in 2019 that defines a leisure trip of four nights or fewer and at least 100 miles away from home. This year, nearly two-thirds of respondents (64%) say their next vacation will still squeezes into a micro-cation and a quarter (23%) are planning more than one, both in line with last year.

Between May and September, seven in ten (71%) Americans will travel away from home for at least one night, averaging 1.4 trips away from home again this summer. Two in five of those surveys (39%, consistent with 2022) also are planning multiple holiday travel getaways of two or more nights away from home, resulting in a busy summer travel season. While the majority of all getaways still qualify as a micro-cation, overall trip length begins to shrink as the number of trips passes three.

Length Of Time

Length of time away isn’t the only travel indicator that’s creeping up. With summer travel and vacation spending expects to hit an all-time high of $214.1 billion in 2023, it’s no surprise that average cost per night also is on the rise. Those who go away only one night are more likely to splurge, spending $622 on the trip. When adding a second night, travelers plan to spend $775 total, plunging the average nightly rate to just $388. In a reversal from 2022, those committing to three, four or five nights away have displays solid growth year-over-year with average nightly spend jumping nearly $100 compares to last year (up as much as 30%) at $418, $422 and $445 respectively.  

“A ‘micro-cation’ affords more opportunity to make a quick getaway and justify a splurge, and many Americans are planning multiple trips to soak in all summer has to offer from the mountains to the beaches and everywhere in between,” said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA.  

Conclusion

Methodology: These are the findings of an Ipsos poll conducts on behalf of Allianz Partners. For this survey, a sample of 2,010 Americans aged 18+ was interviewed from May 2 to 4, 2023 via the Ipsos Online Omnibus. Quota sampling and weighting were employee in order to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.