Overall travel volume (person trips to or within the United States involving a hotel stay or air travel) grew at a faster year-over-year rate in January 2020 than in December 2019.
Domestic travel growth surpassed 0.3%, primarily supported by the leisure segment; international inbound travel increased for just the third time in the past eight months, though the increase was slight.
While not apparent in the January data, the coronavirus outbreak is expected to disrupt inbound travel, particularly from fastgrowing Asian markets, over the coming months.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The Current Travel Index (CTI) has registered at or above the 50 mark for 121 straight months, as the industry enters its 11th
consecutive year of expansion.
- The CTI was positive in January, registering 51.5 (indicating 3.0% year-over-year growth). This exceeds the 6-month moving average (2.4%).
- International inbound travel slightly increased in January (0.2%), registering two consecutive months of growth. The Leading Travel Index (LTI) projects that inbound travel volume will decline about 4.4% over the next six months compared to prior year levels.
- Domestic leisure travel posted strong January growth (4.2%), outperforming its recent six-month trend (3.4%). The business segment experienced healthy growth (1.6%), more than doubling its six-month trend (0.6%).
- The six-month LTI reading of 50.6 indicates that total U.S. travel volume is expected to grow at a rate of 1.2% through July 2020. Over the same period, domestic travel is expected to ease toward 1.6% growth and international inbound travel is expected to contract significantly (-4.4%).
The Travel Trends Index measures the direction and pace of travel volume to and within the U.S. on a monthly basis. The index
includes a Current Travel Index (CTI) and a Leading Travel Index (LTI). Both the CTI and the LTI include subcomponents (domestic,
international, leisure and business).
