With a few holidays under its belt, 2025 has started out steady for the travel industry, according to data from the United States Transportation Security Administration.
From Jan. 1, 2025, to Feb. 20, 2025, the TSA screened more than 109 million people, representing a 1% increase when compared to the same period in 2024. The busiest travel days of the year so far were Feb. 17 and Feb. 14, respectively, which bookended the long Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day weekend.
The number of travelers passing through TSA checkpoints between Jan. 1 and Jan. 7 saw a 2% increase this year when compared to the same period in 2024. Colin Sherman, director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group, said these numbers represent demand consistency for the hotel industry.
“The daily air passenger volume data shows how shifting federal holiday dates impacted travel patterns between 2024 and 2025," Sherman said. "The initial peak of over 2.5 million passengers in early January reflects consistent post-holiday travel."
Presidents Day and MLK Day each fell on different days this year, reflecting some misalignment on the graph comparing the two years' daily TSA numbers, Sherman said.
"However, Martin Luther King Jr. Day/weekend on Jan. 20, 2025, versus Jan. 15, 2024, explains the differing travel spikes," he said. "Similarly, February patterns misalign year-over-year due to Valentine’s/President’s Day ending on Feb. 17, 2025, versus Feb. 19, 2024."
January had a 1.68% growth in travelers this year compared to January 2024. One of the bigger daily differences is Jan. 20, which was Inauguration Day this year. In 2024, that day saw nearly 1.8 million travelers, compared to this year's almost 2.5 million travelers.
February so far has remained essentially flat year over year, only increasing 0.1%, according to the data from TSA.
"Overall, 2025 holiday travel data shows slightly stronger volumes, suggesting higher consumer confidence in leisure travel during the year’s first extended holiday weekends,” Sherman said.