Americans were able to travel again during summer 2021 before the Omicron variant surge. Heading into the summer 2022 travel season, the leisure & hospitality industry and the hotel subsector, in particular, are optimistic for even more improvement.
A March 2022 survey from The Vacationer found 80.8% of respondents said they would travel at least once during the summer and 42.1% more than summer 2021. According to the survey, 60% said they would travel domestically only and 51% said they would travel by plane at least once.
Data from The Media Audit’s newly released 2021 Aggregate Report of 49 consumer/market surveys reveals Gen Z and Millennial travelers over-indexed for heavy exposure to radio (180+ minutes during the average day) in two travel categories.
According to the table below, travel, leisure and hospitality advertisers have many opportunities to use radio as their major reach medium combined with social media to engage with Gen Zers and Millennials who flew three or more times domestically during the past year.
“The almost universal reach of radio and how well it combines with social media provides an even larger cross-section of advertisers with opportunities to promote their travel-related products to younger adults,” Jeff Stein, Vice President/Director of Sales, The Media Audit. “Many of these travelers are likely to purchase leisurewear, footwear, luggage, electronics and personal care products prior to their trips.”
After the pandemic devastated the hotel industry, its recovery has been remarkable. Although the industry’s occupancy rate was still a few percentage points less during the week of 4/3/22 compared to 2019, the average daily rate (ADR) per room had increased by 10.6% and revenue per available room (RevPAR) had increased by 5.4%.
Comparing heavy exposure to the same seven media from The Media Audit’s 2021 Aggregate Report reveals Gen Zers and Millennials who stayed in a hotel/motel 10 or more times during the past year were also heavily exposed to radio.
The correlation between heavy exposure to radio and social media was even stronger among these young adults than domestic air travel.
The airlines, hotels and other sectors of the leisure & hospitality industry have made significant adjustments to their business models and services because of the pandemic. Despite inflationary pressures, a February 2022 Morning Consult survey found 60% of all US adults were “somewhat” or “very” comfortable taking a vacation and approximately 61% said they planned to stay at a hotel during 2022, matching June and July 2021.
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