If you listened to the U.S. Travel Association at the start of the year, you’d think that the country’s travel industry was doomed.
Having commissioned a study by Euromonitor International, the association found that the U.S. was placed 17th out of the top 18 travel market in terms of global competitiveness.
In 2023 it recorded 67 million visitors, still 12 million off the 79 million high recorded pre-Covid in 2019, the association warned a number of factors including weak government representation, lengthy visa interview waits averaging 400 days and around just 36 percent of U.S. airports using biometric processing to ease security checks were undermining the US as a destination.
Despite the tone of the warning and the issues raised, it has had little impact on typical American domestic travelers who are returning to the skies in serious numbers.
Data shared by aviation analysts OAG shows that of the 726.1 million aircraft seats set to depart U.S. airports this summer season, which runs from the last Sunday of March until the last Saturday night in October, 627.7 million are domestic and represent a considerable increase on both the 584.3 million recorded in 2019 and 614.7 million seats last year.
Domestic Destinations
And while the growth represents a return to normal for the U.S. aviation industry, Erin Francis-Cummings, the president and CEO of travel market research firm Future Partners said the most popular domestic destinations for the U.S. traveler in 2024 are once again old favorites.
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