Each year TripAdvisor releases results from its annual summer travel survey which measures travel intentions for Memorial Day weekend and the upcoming summer. We pulled the last 5 years of summer travel surveys from the TripAdvisor archives to explore shifts in traveler behavior.
Summer Leisure Travel
The number of respondents who intend to take a leisure trip this summer:
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
| 91% | 86% | 86% | 86% | 89% |
Memorial Day Travel
According to the 2010-2014 summer travel surveys, 34% of travelers plan to take a trip over Memorial Day weekend, up from 20% in 2010.
Of those, 74% say they will drive, and 31% say they will fly.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Driving | 70% | 66% | 70% | 56% | 74% |
| Flying | 29% | 35% | N/A | 36% | 31% |
Hotels vs. Family/Friends vs. Vacation Rentals
Data wasn’t provided in the 2010 survey, but from 2011-2014 the following chart shows the percentage of travelers planning to stay in hotels, with friends or family, and in vacation rentals.
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Stay in a hotel | 66% | 70% | 70% | 69% |
| Stay with friends | 28% | 31% | 27% | 26% |
| Stay in a vacation rental | 18% | 20% | 20% | 22% |
Type of Destination
In 2010-2012 the number one choice for destination type was a city. That shifted in 2013 when a beach vacation claimed the number one spot.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| City | 53% | 50% | 58% | 50% | 42% |
| Ocean | 45% | 40% | 41% | 51% | 45% |
| National Park | N/A | 18% | 20% | 23% | 21% |
| Lake | N/A | 16% | 18% | 17% | 17% |
Spending Levels
More than a third of travelers surveyed (36%) said they will spend more on leisure travel this summer than last, up from 25% in 2013.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Spend more than last year | 31% | 26% | 27% | 25% | 36% |
| Spend same as last year | 42% | 42% | 47% | 53% | N/A |
Note: According to TripAdvisor, the number of respondents varied from 2010 through 2014 with a high this year at 2,500 and a low in 2013 of 1,200.
By Amy Hinote, VRM Intel
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