U.S. airport passenger data recorded by the Transportation Security Administration shows spring break travel demand is setting the industry up for momentum into the summer months.
Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality market analytics at CoStar Group, said in an email interview that TSA data shows continued recovery over 2022 from business and leisure travelers.
"Spring break travelers buoyed the results for the March weeks, setting the travel industry up nicely for continuing gains during the summer months," he said.
The wild card, however, continues to be the slowdown in the U.S. economy, Freitag added.
"CoStar and Oxford Economics call for a slowing in gross-domestic-product growth and a mild recession later in the year and discretionary spending, such as travel, is always one of the first expenses to get cut or slow," he said. "That said, employment and spending trends still point at healthy consumers, and it is possible that the number of air travelers could grow even though the total spend on travel stagnates as travelers trade down for car, hotel and restaurants."