Jitters and 'set jetting': As travelers firm up summer vacation plans, cancellation anxiety looms
This year's hot travel trends include European cities, "White Lotus" resort stays, African safaris and a jump in cancellation insurance.
With temperatures warming up and the school year in its final stretch, it’s typically the time of the year when we’re daydreaming for long stretches about summer vacations.
This year, as travelers begin firming up their summer trips, they’re showing clear signs of anxiety as they brace for steep sticker shock, global uncertainty, and other concerns.
“First comes the cost. We've seen an 80% increase in the average cost of a summer trip this year,” Lauren Gumport, vice president of communications with Faye Travel Insurance, a travel platform providing insurance and other planning assistance to travelers, told Bagable.com.
“Last year, the cost was about $3,200 per person for a summer trip. This year, it's about $5,800 per person,” she said. “It’s a huge jump.”
The overall rising cost of travel is tied to several factors, Gumport said. The travel industry is struggling with higher operational costs, which are then passed on, in part, to consumers through increased fares. “Along the chain, everything is more expensive, such as accommodations and tours and excursions.”
Recognizing that their summer vacation will be a sizable expenditure this year, travelers are keen to protect their investment.
“It’s interesting that we're not seeing softness in the pace of travel bookings,” Gumport said. “But, people are being more cautious,” Gumport said.
Among Faye’s various travel insurance offerings is an add-on option to supplement a full trip insurance coverage that’s called “Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage.
“This, by far, is the number one add-on coverage purchase that travelers are tacking on to their base plans this year, in case they want to cancel, literally for any reason,” she said.
“I think with political uncertainty, economic uncertainty and global uncertainty, consumers are still planning to travel but they’re nervous and want that extra layer of protection,” Gumport said.
According to Faye, since the beginning of the year, CFAR coverage purchases are up 15% month-over-month and have outpacing the total number of purchases for them at this time last year.
“Taking into account the high cost of summer trips, if you have to cancel for any reason, you can recoup up to 75% of nonrefundable trip costs if you decide to trigger this coverage,” Gumport said.
Gen Z are “set jetting”
So where are Americans keen to travel to over the summer?
Europe continues to lead the way, with eight out of the top 10 destinations including Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Switzerland, Gumport said
“We also see Canada at number five and the US at number ten because even domestic trips are still incredible vacations, whether that's Hawaii or hiking in the National parks,” she said.
With younger travelers — GenZers — the most interesting travel trend is “set jetting,” or traveling to destinations that are associated with their favorite TV shows or movies, Gumport said.
“The best example I can give you that's super current is ‘White Lotus.’ GenZers want to stay at the resorts showcased on the show, or see where ‘Bridgerton’ was filmed, or the sights in Paris that appear on “Emily in Paris,” she said.
Traveling to attend concerts and sporting events is also popular with Gen Z tourist, she said.
One other travel trend on the rise are heritage trips. “Families are taking these together, or friends go together to trace their roots or meet a long-lost cousin,” said Gumport.
Africa is the hotspot for luxury travel
Deep-pocketed consumers are keen to experience, exotic vacations.
“We pulled the destinations for which people are spending the most for upcoming trips. You have Rwanda, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania and South Africa,” said Gumport.
These unique, often once-in-a-lifetime experiences, include staying in high-end safari lodges (pricetag: about $15,000) and signing up for gorilla trekking expeditions (pricetag: about $18,000) in remote areas.
“What's actually interesting is we also saw Greenland make the adventure travel list, which I don't think it's a coincidence,” she said. “Greenland has been in the news.”
Lastly, pet travel has picked up steam. “The pet care add-on is our second-most popular to supplement travel insurance,” said Gumport. “Travelers are keeping their dogs with them.”