Since the pandemic, the demand for travel has been hot — so hot that many travelers have been willing to endure inconveniences big and small.
But there are signs that flight delays and cancellations, long lines and technological inefficiencies are starting to deter would-be travelers, said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association during a media press briefing today.
According to a new study by Ipsos for the organization, only 17% of recent air travelers rated their overall experience as excellent and hassle-free. Business and leisure travelers are beginning to think more rationally about their travel decisions, Freeman said, and are going to start skipping trips they would have taken due to the hassle of air travel. The study found that air travelers are planning to skip an average of two trips per year, equaling 27 million skipped trips.
"Business travelers are more likely to grow frustrated with the process,” he said. “Seventy-four percent plan to travel, but a third say they travel less than they did pre-pandemic. They would take two more trips a year if [air travel] improved.”
U.S. Travel predicts that these skipped trips will cost the tourism economy around $71 billion and $4.5 billion in lost tax revenue in the next year.
"We have not changed many policies since 9/11,” Freeman said. “We have not streamlined the [air travel] experience. It’s only a matter of time until travelers ask, ‘Isn’t there a better way, two decades down the line?'”
We have not streamlined the [air travel] experience. It’s only a matter of time until travelers ask, ‘Isn’t there a better way, two decades down the line?'
U.S. Travel believes that the government is failing travelers, pointing to numerous challenges that could be addressed with sustained investment and improved strategy from the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to Freeman, one in four flights are delayed or cancelled due to staffing issues or problems with air traffic technology, there are months- or years-long delays in getting U.S. visitor visas, and there is a four- to six-month wait to get enrolled in Global Entry.
He also discussed staffing shortages for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which also suffers from high levels of attrition.
"Travelers enrolled in TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are happier, but it takes too long to be enrolled,” Freeman said. “The government needs to get it right ... This is the result of years of federal underinvestment in travel.”
Freeman focused on how far behind the U.S. is compared to competitors on incorporating technological upgrades that would make the traveler experience quicker and more efficient.
"The technology is there, but the U.S. is not rolling it out as quickly as other countries,” he said, discussing the use of biometrics. “Travelers are asking for the same efficiencies that have been adopted in other parts of the world.”
Freeman, however, did acknowledge that the group’s fears of a summer of flight delays and cancellations did not materialize — thanks to work by the travel industry and the federal government.
"It’s also because of how low we set our expectations,” he said.
