Every holiday season, retrospectives on the previous 12 months and forecasts for the coming year pop up virtually everywhere. As a favor to our readers (and on the theory that travelers care less about where they’ve been and more about where they’re headed), we’ve scanned the Internet to try to get a handle on what the travel industry might look like in 2014. Below are a few of the predictions we found for United States travel in 2014. (Disclaimer: Please remember that these predictions are simply estimates and opinions, not guarantees.)
Business travel spending will increase. According to CNBC, a Global Business Travel Association study forecasts growth of 7.2% in business travel expenses, resulting from continued economic expansion and travel rate hikes. However, the study also predicts that most of that increase will come from travel in Latin America and Asia, while short-haul business class travel in North America drops 8-13%. Assuming U.S. airlines don’t try to make up the difference by raising airfare on vacationers, this could be good news for leisure travelers. In fact …
U.S. airfares will decrease. Condé Nast Traveler reports that an American Express Business Travel study believes fare wars will heat up between U.S. carriers. Coupled with tighter corporate purse strings (likely due to other rate hikes mentioned above), this will bring about lower prices for domestic flights (which might also offer more and better Wi-Fi connectivity). Lower airfares would be good news for travelers; however …
Hotels and rental cars will be more expensive. Carlson Wagonlit Travel predicts a 3.9% rise in room rates and an increase of up to 2% in rental-car prices in North America. While such rental-car charges aren’t substantially higher than current overall inflation rates, that sort of hike in hotel fees might put off a number of would-be travelers. Fortunately …
Hotels will work harder to appeal to travelers. These efforts, according to Condé Nast Traveler, will include a greater focus on personal needs, enhanced layouts, more office amenities, and better Wi-Fi offers. These features will be implemented in part to fend off potential revenue loss from a greater number of voyagers who opt to stay in homes rather than hotels. Then again …
“Wellness” trips will increase. Travel to Wellness predicts a surge in “wellness vacations” in the coming years as travelers (and their doctors) begin to embrace the benefits of improving one’s health and well-being. Hotels will therefore expand their services to attract tourists who are looking to extend their lifespans and enhance their bodies, minds, and spirits.
Making predictions is a risky business, and forecasting the validity of other people’s predictions is even more dangerous. We can make this prediction about U.S. travel in 2014, though: Travel Plus members will continue to earn 5% cash back on their flight, hotel, and rental-car reservations and enjoy rebates on a variety of travel perks and comforts. We invite you to share your own 2014 travel predictions in the Comments section. Happy trails!
