Travel spending slowing as consumers see 'a no-win situation,' analyst says

After more than two years of decreased traffic to dining, travel, and retail locations due to the pandemic, U.S. consumers are back on the go — but at a slower pace than expected a few weeks ago.

“Airfares are high, gas prices are high,” Morning Consult Travel & Hospitality Analyst Lindsey Roeschke told Yahoo Finance (video above). “And so consumers really feel like they’re in a no-win situation when it comes to travel, so what they’re doing is cutting back.”

Roeschke added that many consumers are “taking those revenge trips at the beginning of the summer for the holiday weekend, and then probably pulling back and staying a little bit closer to home for the rest of the summer.”

Summer travel is expected to be 25 to 50% more expensive than last year, pressuring the plans of consumers who spent much of the past two years cooped up at home.

And while more Americans plan to travel this summer compared to last summer, Roeschke added, “the number of trips they’re taking is declining year-over-year” given the chaos at airports and inflation.

The mass of travelers over the holiday weekend stretched the capacity the airlines and airports, which struggled with the demand. And while travel was heavy during the holiday weekend, Roeschke noted that “it might be a quieter end of summer than we’ve seen in previous years.”

Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv

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