Holiday Travel Trends Upward As Culinary and Cruise Vacations Surge in Popularity Among Americans According to MMGY Report

More than a third of all U.S. adults intend to travel for the winter holiday season

Eat, drink and be merry: culinary tourism, cruises and the upcoming holiday season are among the trending topics featured in the “Fall Edition” of MMGY’s Portrait of American Travelers® study. An examination of the evolving habits, preferences and behaviors of today’s U.S. travel consumers, the quarterly survey found that nearly 8 in 10 U.S. adults plan to take a vacation in the next 12 months, which represents an increase of 6% compared to the results from fall 2023.

“Despite economic uncertainties and global complexities, travel continues to be a major priority for Americans,” said Simon Moriarty, MMGY Travel Intelligence’s Vice President of Research and Analytics. “Our survey highlights a marked rise in interest in culinary and cruise experiences, reflecting a trend toward more immersive and meaningful travel. As we head into the busy but lucrative holiday season, marketers should recognize that travelers are planning their trips with increased thoughtfulness and genuine intent.”

Additional highlights from the report follow.

• Travel Plans and Concerns: In welcome news for the industry, U.S. travel intentions have increased across every generation and all household income levels. Since the summer survey, consumer concerns about the price of gas have decreased alongside price declines in the marketplace.

• Generational Differences: Among generations, Boomers anticipate spending the most on leisure travel during the next 12 months, while Gen Xers expect to take the most trips (3.9 on average). Interestingly, Gen Z’s interest in travel has changed course and risen after four quarters of consecutive decline, with 67% now planning to travel for leisure in the next 12 months. 

• Holiday Travel: As a whole, more U.S. adults (38%) intend to travel for the upcoming winter holiday season (compared to 34% in 2023). Thanksgiving travel intentions have increased slightly (53% this year compared to 51% last year), as have intentions to travel for the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa (61% this year compared to 58% last year).

• Culinary Travel: For the second year in a row, the influence of a destination’s culinary scene has grown in importance from the previous year. Although authentic local cuisine is still the most sought-after culinary experience (55%), there is growing interest in high-end culinary experiences such as award-winning restaurants or food and wine festivals. 

• Cruising: Over half of active leisure travelers are interested in taking an ocean cruise (58%) or river cruise (52%) during the next two years, while 40% are interested in an expedition cruise. Notably, there is a statistically significant 6% increase in interest in ocean cruises, signaling a promising future for this mode of travel. 

• Traveling Abroad: Interest in international travel remains strong, with 8 in 10 active leisure travelers interested in traveling internationally within the next two years (82%). This is up slightly from this time last year (79%).

• Hot Destinations: Hawaii, Florida, Colorado and California remain the top states that attract leisure travelers’ interest. Beach experiences and visiting state or national parks remain consistent as the top two activities of interest for all generations – both gaining in popularity since 2023. 

Featuring these findings and more, the “Fall Edition” of Portrait of American Travelers® is now available for purchase or as part of an all-access subscription to MMGY’s new Intel Library. To learn more, visit store.mmgyintel.com.

MMGY’s Portrait of American Travelers® study provides an in-depth examination of the impact of the current economic environment, prevailing social values and emerging travel habits, preferences and intentions of Americans. Now in its 34th year, it is widely regarded as a leading barometer of travel trends and an essential tool for developing and evolving brand and marketing strategies. The travel trend information presented in this “Fall Edition” report was obtained from interviews with 4,501 U.S. adults in August 2024 and features data from four generations: Gen Zers (18–24), Millennials (25–40), Gen Xers (41–56) and Boomers (57–75). The Silent/GI generation (76+) was also surveyed, but results are not broken out for this specific generation due to a small respondent sample size. This is the third of four quarterly reports to be released this year.