The summer travel divide: How to find affordable vacations this year
Summer travel intent has hit its lowest point since the pandemic. Deloitte’s latest summer travel survey found only 45 percent of travelers plan a summer vacation with paid lodging this year, the lowest figure in six years. Travel intent fell across every income bracket, but the drop among households earning under $100,000 was twice as steep as the decline among middle- and high-income earners, an 8-point drop versus 4 points each. The travelers still going plan to spend $4,069 on their summer vacations, up 17 percent from last year. Deloitte’s broader 2026 outlook calls this a bifurcation of standard and luxury travel and frames competition for the high-spending traveler as one of the year’s defining trends. Travelers earning between $100,000 and $199,000 show the biggest booking gap, with 37 percent fully booked versus 45 percent last year, leaving a large amount of unsold late-May inventory that revenue managers are aware of.
