Memorial Day weekend is always a popular time for travel in the United States, but this year the amount of travel was record-breaking.
Transportation Security Administration data shows that more than 2.9 million U.S. air travelers were screened on May 24, which sets the record for most people screened on a single day. There were just under 2.9 million travelers screened on May 23, which is the third-highest level ever.
“As expected, the Friday before the long Memorial Day weekend saw the highest TSA through-put numbers ever recorded," said Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality market analytics at CoStar. "This points to the continued demand for leisure trips on the high end and goes hand in hand with the AAA forecast for robust Labor Day traffic."
The numbers are another positive sign for high-end travel, but it'll be important to monitor the bifurcation between high- and low-end travelers when considering the overall demand landscape, Freitag said.
"On the high end, demand is robust, and many of these travelers use air transportation to get to their destination, so strong TSA numbers continue to be a good indicator of robust, higher-end leisure demand," Freitag said.
STR and Tourism Economics downgraded its U.S. hotel forecast for average daily rate and revenue per available room growth in 2024 on June 3, and the aforementioned divide in travel between income classes is certainly a factor.
“We have seen a bifurcation in hotel performance over the first four months of the year, which we don’t believe will abate soon,” said Amanda Hite, president of STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm. “The increased cost of living is affecting lower- to middle-income households and their ability to travel, thus lessening demand for hotels in the lower price tier."