Travel Survey 2022: Global Travel Industry Trend

The global travel industry has significantly shifted consumer patterns and behaviours since the COVID-19 pandemic. From the destinations that potential travellers would like to visit, to the frequency of their travel plans—and the amount of money they are willing to spend on their holidays—it is without a doubt that businesses in the travel market have had to adapt their modus operandi to keep up.

Before the pandemic, European outbound travel was a key market for global tourism as the region had the highest number of outbound travellers in 2019 — 702 million international tourists. In comparison, tourists from North America made for a much smaller slice of the pie, with 99.74 million outbound tourists from the United States in 2019—significantly lower compared to Europe.

With border controls and restrictions lifted globally, many Europeans and Canadians are eager to travel again. In a recent GMO Research-led survey conducted among respondents from Europe and North America, results showed that a majority of those polled from England (71.8%), Germany (69.5%), France (67.2%) and Canada (71.2%) are keen to travel abroad for leisure on more than one occasion in 2023.

However, the statistics coming from Europe and Canada contrast with the United States, where almost half of the respondents, or 45.2%, indicated that they have no plans for any overseas trip, making this the highest rate of negative responses among the surveyed countries. This is not surprising because the US State Department estimates that only 37% of Americans have a valid passport and that 22 million passports were issued in 2022. To promote the application of passports amongst Americans, the US government started holding Special Passport Acceptance Fairs around the country to make it easier for its people to obtain this travel document.

Despite its low international outbound tourism, the United States receives plenty of inbound travellers, with many of those polled from the survey respondents planning to visit in 2023 (36.5%) and after 2024 (14.3%). The numbers were almost similar for Canada as a destination, with 29% indicating that they will visit the North American country in 2023 and another 15.3% stating their plans to visit after 2024.

Europe is also set to receive its fair share of inbound tourists in the next two years, with 33–35% of those polled stating that they plan to visit countries such as Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom within 2023, and another 13 –16% saying they would visit after 2024.

The survey also investigated the sources of information respondents refer to when gathering information on international travel. Web searches and word of mouth from friends/acquaintances were cited as the most common sources of information, across all countries surveyed. However, some countries still rely on traditional sources of information, such as TV programs and newspaper articles. England (23.4%) and Germany (25.6%) showed higher reliance on TV programs than other countries in Europe and North America.

In France, social media played an integral role as an information source for respondents with regard to international travel, with 21% turning to different platforms. In contrast, respondents in the United States (1.8%), England (2.7%) and Canada (2%) did not see social media as an information source. 14.2% of those in England would instead turn to newspaper articles to gather information on international travel.

This travel survey by GMO Research provides valuable insights into the travel habits and preferences of those in Europe and North America. It highlights the desire to travel among most respondents, with leisure travel being a key motivation. With the majority of those surveyed planning to travel internationally in 2023, businesses in the travel trade can see a brighter light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

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