The Story Wave 45

Travel & Hospitality: An Industry Snapshot

Our recent report on the state of travel explores Americans’ thoughts about business travel and airport security. A few key takeaways include:

• Bring on the work travel: Half of US adults (51%) who travel for work say that it’s likely they will travel more for work this year compared to last year.
• Blurring the lines of work and play: A third (31%) of those who travel for work say that they try to extend the length of their work trips into personal vacations when they can.
• Living big on the company dime: A quarter (24%) of US adults who travel for work say that they spend more money on work trips than they do on personal trips.
• Respect my privacy please: Four-in-10 US adults who fly on commercial airlines feel like their privacy is being invaded when they go through airport security. 
• Should TSA use facial recognition technology?: Half of US adults (51%) who fly on commercial airlines support the use of AI facial recognition at airport security checkpoints.

Over-Index Report: This month’s over-index report uses data from QuestBrand by The Harris Poll to list 20 non-travel brands that over-index with business travelers. A few brands that made the ranking are listed below:

Americans Assess The Impact of Technology On Their Health

How many times a day do you scroll through Instagram? Glance at your smartphone? While technology keeps us connected, it’s no surprise that we suffer some negative consequences from our tech-first culture. A recent Harris Poll survey measured how Americans see technology impacting their health, including:

• Developing a dependence: 76% of US adults under 30 think young people are too dependent on technology.
• Too much of a good thing: 62% of adult Gen Zers wish they spent less time using technology, and 56% worry about getting addicted to their smartphones.
• Nostalgia for a simpler time: 65% of US adults wish they could go back to a time before everyone was “plugged in.”
• Mental health: More than half (57%) of Americans do not think concerns about technology harming mental health are overblown.

Takeaway: Responding to this data in an op-ed for Newsweek, Harris Poll co-CEO Will Johnson said, “In terms of next steps, it’s clear that we are all—and not just Gen Zers—spending too much time on our smartphones, losing out on many of life’s non-virtual joys. It can’t be overstated—Get off your phone (me included).” 

Travel Marketing – How To Reach Consumers Planning Summer Vacations – AdAge-Harris Poll Op-Ed

In a recent op-ed for AdAge, Harris Poll co-CEO Will Johnson explores Americans’ interest in trip planning and summer travel. Leaning into these insights, marketers can better convert potential travelers into satisfied customers:

• Not-so-effective advertising: Fewer than one-in-10 Americans (7%) say that advertising influences their travel destination decisions.
• Too much effort?: 42% of US adults who regularly travel or who are planning a trip say that trip planning is tiresome.
• We just want to relax: 76% of US adults who travel regularly or are planning a trip say that they would travel more if someone else did the planning.
• Families are packing their bags: Parents with school-aged children (and younger) are more likely to travel (80%) than those without kids of that age (63%).
• Making memories with the kids: Parents more often said that travel is a higher priority post-pandemic (20%) than those who do not have school-aged children (12%).

Takeaway: “Like the song says, in summertime the living ought to be easy. If it’s easier for consumers to travel, they will do so more frequently.” – Will Johnson