#domestic-travel-demand

#domestic-travel-demand

Decades of national park visitation and outdoor recreation economic data are buried in government spreadsheets. I built this to make it actually usable, whether you work in outdoor rec or just want to know how many people went to Yellowstone last year.

ACI Europe has warned that if maritime flows through the Strait of Hormuz fail to recover significantly and stably within three weeks, a systemic jet fuel shortage could emerge across the European Union.

Icelandair wants to find a terrible amateur photographer, someone with no professional training or experience—and no real interest in gaining any of those skills.

Ed Bastian stated that affluent customers are becoming more immune to economic headlines, indicating they are not delaying investments in the experience economy despite ongoing volatility.

The underlying logic is simple: the further away a visitor comes from, the longer they tend to stay - and longer stays mean more money flowing into the local economy through lodging taxes, restaurant bills, and retail spending.

Rather than chasing diminishing returns through additional advertising, the agency advocated for an entertainment product: a film that could function as a vehicle for repositioning perception while operating as a single investment with long-tail value, capable of shaping how audiences feel about a place over time and across markets.

This year is shaping up to be a big one for domestic travel, especially as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary in July. With that historic milestone on the horizon, it's a fitting moment to take stock of where travelers are most eager to go. Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice Awards: Best of the Best Destinations do just that, spotlighting the top U.S. destinations based on millions of reviews and ratings submitted over the past year. The results reflect the places that resonated most with travelers.

In a world where third spaces are dying, and consumers are being segregated between haves and have-nots at every turn, the airport bar has quietly endured. But the airport bar is not-so-quietly under siege. Airport concessions took a hit during the pandemic, and while they benefited from the subsequent revenge travel, the rebound has stalled.

And yet, the U.S. tourism industry is worried. While the rest of the world saw a travel bump in 2025, with global international arrivals up 4%, the U.S. saw a downturn. The number of foreign tourists who came to the United States fell by 5.4% during the year-a sharper decline than the one experienced in 2017-18, the last time, outside the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the industry was gripped by fears of a travel slump.

Policy stances from the Trump administration on everything from immigration to tariffs, along with currency swings and stricter border controls, have seemingly proved a turnoff to travelers from other countries, especially Canadians - the single largest source of foreign tourists for the United States. Canadian travel to the U.S. fell by close to 30% in 2025. But it is not just visitors from Canada who are choosing to avoid the United States.

While vacation prices have increased nationwide since 2019, the sharpest spikes have not occurred in the country's most expensive cities. Instead, the steepest growth in costs has taken place across the Mountain West, where demand has surged in midsize cities that once offered affordable alternatives to pricier coastal destinations.

The off-season practically vanished in many parts of the world. Remote work, social media frenzy, and ruthless dynamic pricing have turned fall and spring into peak-season clones. Even winter is no refuge anymore. The idea of an off-season is 100% disappearing.