Americans are taking fewer, bigger trips: 45% plan a summer 2026 vacation with paid lodging, the lowest share in six years (Deloitte), yet budgets for the longest trip are up 17% to $4,069. One in four travelers now researches trips with generative AI — double the share of two years ago. Cruise demand set an all-time record in 2025 and 63% of cruisers booked through a travel advisor. Every number below names its survey, its sample and the date we checked it — most trend lists name none of the three. Agencies can quote these in pitches; writers can cite them with the source on the line.
Facts checked on . Prices and features may change. Reviewed by Pablo Bravo.
We only publish figures we verified at the source: the survey publisher’s own release, the report PDF, or government statistics. Each line names where the number comes from, the sample it was measured on, and the date we fetched it. Figures we could not verify are not on this page. Two disclosures: Deloitte, AARP and American Express figures are US or multi-country consumer surveys, while CLIA figures come from the cruise industry’s own association report — industry self-reporting, read accordingly. And we build Viaondo, a trip-delivery tool for travel agencies, which shapes which trends we track: the ones an agency can act on.
Is 2026 the year of fewer travelers or bigger trips?
Both: intent is at a six-year low, and the travelers who remain are spending more per trip. That split is the story of the year.
45%
of Americans plan a summer vacation with a stay in paid lodging — the lowest share in six years, down from 53% in 2025 (Deloitte, 2026 Summer Travel Survey).
Half of surveyed Americans are not traveling this summer at all. The pullback concentrates in households earning under $100,000, where intent fell from 46% to 38% in one year — and it prices the traveling public richer: 53% of summer 2026 travelers earn $100,000 or more, up from 49%.
is the average budget for travelers’ longest summer trip, up 17% from 2025 (Deloitte).
Travelers absorb higher prices rather than cut the trip: 24% plan to significantly raise their marquee-trip budget (19% in 2025) while only 11% plan to cut it (14% in 2025). Fewer customers, higher value per customer — the 2026 market in one line.
passengers were screened at US airport checkpoints in 2025 — an annual record, though growth slowed to under 1% (TSA checkpoint data).
The record comes with a warning for agencies selling volume: 2025 was also the year with 8 days of more than 3 million passengers screened in a single day. Peak-day congestion keeps shifting, so departure-time advice is now part of the service.
How are travelers planning and booking 2026 trips?
AI moved from experiment to habit, bargain-hunting became standard, and one booking channel keeps holding: the travel advisor.
1 in 4
travelers research trips with generative AI — adoption more than doubled in two years (Deloitte).
Millennials lead at 36%, Gen Z follows at 33%, Gen X sits at 24%. But AI is a research tool, not a booker: just 1 in 4 travelers say they want a one-stop travel shop, and most say they enjoy shopping around. The itineraries AI drafts still need someone to book, price-check and deliver them.
of travelers aged 50 and over use AI for travel planning — double the 8% of a year earlier (AARP, 2026 Travel Trends).
The 50-plus cohort planned 3.6 trips for 2025 and then took 4.2, and it plans early: 86% of their 2026 domestic trips were already booked or being planned by the end of 2025. When a demographic this large doubles its AI use in one year, AI-assisted clients stop being an edge case for agencies.
of adults 50-plus shop for bargains when planning trips at least sometimes, and more than half used loyalty discounts or rewards to offset recent travel costs (AARP).
Cost is the number-one travel blocker in every income group they surveyed. Value framing — what is included, what is handled, what a mistake costs — sells harder than price matching.
of people who cruised in the last 12 months booked through a travel advisor, a share that has held between 60% and 66% since 2022 (CLIA, State of the Cruise Industry).
Cruise is the largest advisor-distributed travel segment by booking share, and it keeps growing: see the record below. The advisor is not being cut out in the segment that pays agencies most consistently.
The 2026 trip is built around a purpose, hands-on experiences and deliberate spare space — with work riding along more often than before.
66%
of travelers plan to take a trip celebrating a milestone for someone else in 2026, and 82% of those add buffer days around the main event (American Express, 2026 Global Travel Trends Report).
Weddings, reunions and milestone birthdays are becoming the anchor of the year’s travel calendar. Buffer days are the part clients under-plan and remember longest — an easy thing for an agency to build in by default.
of Millennial and Gen Z travelers say they are likely to seek out local workshops or destination-specific activities in 2026 — what Amex calls "sight-doing" (American Express).
76% of all respondents believe skills gained on a trip outlast any material souvenir. Bookable hands-on moments (a class, a workshop, a maker visit) are the difference between an itinerary that gets skimmed and one that gets used.
of travelers like to leave room in their itinerary for unexpected local discoveries (American Express).
The itineraries clients want in 2026 are frameworks, not minute-by-minute schedules: enough structure to feel handled, enough space to feel like an adventure. Density is out; deliberate spare space is in.
travelers plan to work during their longest summer trip, up from 23% in 2025 (Deloitte).
Laptop luggers take longer trips, spend more, and pack in more activities — and they need itineraries that account for working hours: reliable Wi-Fi notes, realistic day plans, activities that survive a shifted schedule.
Cruise sets records, shoulder-season travel keeps growing, and Europe stays the international default for US travelers.
37.2M
ocean cruise passengers sailed worldwide in 2025 — up 7.5% from 2024 and an all-time record, with 38.3 million forecast for 2026 (CLIA).
About one-third of cruisers are now under 40, and roughly one-third of cruise trips are multigenerational. Of all 37.2 million cruisers in 2025, 20.5 million sailed on typically US-embarked cruises. Forecast growth stays single-digit through 2029 (~42 million).
of summer trips now start after Labor Day — up from 12% in 2022 — and more than 1 in 4 Boomers place their longest summer trip in that window (Deloitte).
The shoulder season is the quiet workaround for crowds and peak prices, and it changes agency operations: trip support, app content and in-trip communication now stretch across September and beyond rather than ending in August.
of international marquee trips by US summer travelers go to Europe — the leading region, with Mexico and the Caribbean at 16% and Canada at 11% (Deloitte).
Among travelers 50-plus, Asia and the Middle East rose from 10% to 18% of planned international trips in one year (AARP). Shorter-haul North America rebalanced toward Canada, up 4 percentage points (Deloitte).
Fewer travelers, bigger budgets is the 2026 trade: 45% of Americans plan a summer vacation (a six-year low) while the average longest-trip budget rose 17% to $4,069. Winning the client matters more than winning the search — itinerary software for travel agencies is how small agencies deliver the bigger, more complex trips those budgets now expect.
AI is now a planning habit, not a curiosity: 1 in 4 travelers research with generative AI and 16% of the 50-plus cohort plans with it — but 3 in 4 still enjoy shopping around, and someone still has to book, price-check and deliver the trip. That last mile is the agency’s job.
The advisor channel holds where it is distributed best: 63% of cruisers booked through an advisor, steady since 2022, on record cruise demand (37.2 million passengers in 2025, 38.3 million forecast for 2026). For what the wider numbers say about advisor demand, see travel agency statistics.
Clients want frameworks, not scripts: 87% leave room for discovery, 82% add buffer days around milestone events, and 1 in 3 will work during their longest trip. An itinerary that shows open space and handles the working day is now the deliverable clients judge you on — the buyer’s guide covers what to look for in a delivery tool.
Shoulder-season demand is structural: 20% of summer trips now start after Labor Day, double the 2022 share. September trips mean your post-trip support and app content cannot quietly switch off in August.
Travel trends 2026: questions worth asking
What are the biggest travel trends for 2026?
Five have the numbers behind them: fewer but bigger trips (45% of Americans plan a summer vacation — a six-year low — while average budgets for the longest trip rose 17% to $4,069, Deloitte); generative AI as a normal planning tool (1 in 4 travelers, doubled in two years, Deloitte); purpose- and experience-led trips (66% plan milestone trips and 79% of Millennial and Gen Z travelers seek hands-on local activities, Amex); record cruise demand distributed through advisors (37.2 million passengers in 2025, 63% booked via an advisor, CLIA); and structural shoulder-season growth (20% of summer trips start after Labor Day, up from 12% in 2022, Deloitte).
Are fewer Americans traveling in 2026?
Intent is down and spend is not. 45% of Americans plan a summer 2026 vacation with paid lodging, the lowest share in six years and down from 53% in 2025 (Deloitte, n=4,003). But the travelers who remain budget 17% more for their longest trip, and US airports still screened a record 906 million passengers in 2025. The market is thinning at the bottom, not shrinking: 53% of summer travelers now earn $100,000 or more.
Will travelers use AI to plan trips in 2026?
Yes — 1 in 4 travelers research trips with generative AI, more than double the share of two years ago, and millennials lead at 36% (Deloitte, n=4,003, April 2026). Among travelers 50 and over, AI planning use doubled from 8% to 16% in one year (AARP). But AI is a research tool so far: only 1 in 4 travelers want a one-stop shop, and most still enjoy comparing options before they book.
Do travelers still book through travel advisors in 2026?
In cruise — the segment with the strongest advisor distribution — 63% of people who cruised in the last 12 months booked through a travel advisor, a share that has stayed between 60% and 66% since 2022 (CLIA). Across all trip types, 62% of travelers say they expect to use an advisor to plan and book most of their trips; that figure and its survey are on our travel agency statistics page.
Is cruising still growing in 2026?
Yes. Cruise set an all-time record in 2025 with 37.2 million ocean-going passengers, up 7.5% from 2024, and CLIA forecasts 38.3 million in 2026 on the way to about 42 million by 2029. Demand skews younger (about one-third of cruisers are under 40) and multigenerational (about one-third of cruise trips), and 90% of past cruisers intend to cruise again.
Deliver the 2026 trip clients actually take
Viaondo gives your agency a branded, offline trip app for every client at one flat price of $50 a month — built for itineraries with spare space, working days and shoulder-season support. Start the 14-day free trial.