Recession Concerns Rise, but U.S. Travelers Keep Taking Trips reports Future Partners :: Hospitality Trends

Financial Sentiment Becomes More Cautious

According to Future Partners’ latest State of the American Traveler study, American travelers reported a more cautious financial outlook in September. The share who said their household was financially better off than a year earlier declined to 32.8%, from 34.0% in the previous month. Meanwhile, 25.3% said they were worse off, largely unchanged.

About 45.0% of travelers expected their financial situation to improve over the next 12 months, down from 46.1% in the prior month and 47.1% a year earlier. The share expecting a U.S. recession within six months rose to 46.6%, up from 43.8% in August.

More than half of respondents, or 52.3%, said they were being careful with money because of recession concerns. That was up from 50.6% a month earlier and 46.4% a year earlier. Among households earning less than $49,000 annually, 60.5% said they were monitoring their spending, compared with 35.3% of households earning at least $200,000.

Gen Z travelers and parents of school-aged children were more likely than other groups to say they were better off financially than a year ago. Boomers and Gen X travelers were more likely to express caution.

Travel Budgets Remain Uneven by Income

Travel spending indicators were generally stable despite the weaker financial outlook. The share of travelers who said it was a good time to spend on leisure travel was 34.7%, little changed from 34.3% in August and 34.9% a year earlier. About 56.5% said leisure travel was a high spending priority.

Average annual travel budgets rose to $5,697 from $5,340 in the prior month but remained below the $6,184 average reported a year earlier. Travelers earning at least $200,000 budgeted an average of $14,068 annually for travel, compared with $2,164 among those earning less than $49,000.

About 75.8% of travelers in the highest-income group described leisure travel as a high-spending priority, compared with 41.3% of those in the lowest-income group.

Even with economic concerns, 57.3% of travelers said travel was a worthwhile investment during a recession. That was slightly higher than the prior month and a year earlier. Parents and Gen Z respondents were particularly likely to hold that view. In addition, 32.0% expected to increase travel spending during the next year, while 18.2% expected to reduce it.

Recent Trips and Future Plans Increase

More than half of travelers (57.5%) said they took an overnight leisure trip in the past month, up from 56.2% in August and 50.8% a year earlier.

Travel to visit friends and relatives reached 53.1%, while 57.9% of respondents reported leisure day trips. Both measures remained above their levels from the same period in 2025.

Gen Z travelers and parents of school-aged children reported the highest rates of overnight travel. Boomers reported lower rates, with 47.7% saying they had taken an overnight leisure trip in the past month.

Expected trip volume increased to an average of 3.8 trips over the next 12 months, up from 3.6 in August. Travel excitement rose to 8.2 on the survey’s scale. The share of respondents with no travel planned fell to 14.6%, from 16.2% in the previous month.

Nearly 23% of travelers earning under $49,000 had no trips scheduled, compared with 7.3% of those earning $200,000 or more.

December had the largest share of planned travel, at 29.8%, followed by October at 27.5%, September at 26.6% and November at 25.9%. Nearly one-third of respondents also said they had trips planned later in 2027. Interest in multigenerational travel increased to 47.4%, with parents reporting the strongest interest.

Spontaneous Travel Reaches a Survey High

About 25.2% of respondents said they frequently or very frequently take spontaneous leisure trips. That was up from 20.1% in August and 17.6% a year earlier, representing the highest result recorded in the study.

The share who said they travel spontaneously very frequently reached 7.6%, more than twice the 3.4% reported a year earlier.

Gen Z led in frequent or very frequent spontaneous travel at 43.6%, followed by travelers earning $200,000 or more at 36.8% and parents of school-aged children at 36.6%. Boomers and lower-income travelers were least likely to take trips on short notice.

AI and Social Media Expand Their Role in Planning

Nearly one-third of travelers, 31.9%, said they had used AI tools to plan or prepare for a trip during the prior 12 months. The rate rose from 30.6% in August and 22.6% a year earlier.

AI use was highest among Gen Z, Millennials and parents of school-aged children. More than 45% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents said they had used AI for trip planning, while 51.6% of parents said the same. By comparison, 18.0% of Boomers reported using AI tools for travel planning.

In a separate sample, 55.1% said they had used at least one AI tool or chatbot for travel planning. ChatGPT was the most commonly cited tool, used by 39.1% of respondents, followed by Google Gemini at 30.3%. About 35.3% said they had used AI-generated search answers for travel information.

Only 28.0% said AI-generated travel information was important to their leisure travel planning, and 21.5% considered AI-generated answers the most helpful kind of search result. Organic search results were preferred by 29.2%. About 65.0% said they would be more confident receiving local travel advice from a person than from an AI system.

Social media use for trip research also increased. YouTube was the most commonly used platform, cited by 35.9% of travelers, followed by Facebook at 33.8%, Instagram at 27.3% and TikTok at 20.6%. Gen Z respondents used Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at similar rates, while Millennials reported particularly high use of YouTube and Facebook.

Fuel Costs and Payment Methods Affect Travel Decisions

Cost remained the most frequently cited obstacle to additional travel. About 36.4% of respondents said travel was too expensive, up from 32.6% a year earlier. Gas prices were cited by 31.0%, nearly double the 16.8% reported in August 2025, despite a slight month-to-month decline.

Rural travelers and lower-income households were most likely to identify fuel costs as a deterrent. Gen X respondents also cited gas prices more often than other generations. Airfare concerns rose more modestly, reaching 26.8%.

Buy-now-pay-later use for travel reached 16.8%, up from 15.4% last month. Use was highest among Gen Z travelers, parents of school-aged children and Millennials.