Travel demand drops fuel prices surge is reshaping how families plan vacations, with rising costs forcing many to cancel or scale back trips.
The number of Americans planning to travel internationally or take a road trip closer to home has plunged to the lowest rates since the Covid-19 pandemic as President Donald Trump’s war with Iran has sent fuel prices skyrocketing.
A new survey from The Conference Board found that just 17 percent of respondents said they planned to travel abroad in the next six months, the lowest percentage since 2022, Bloomberg reported.
Just 22 percent were planning a trip by automobile, the lowest number since 2020.
Trump’s war has interrupted international travel routes and sent the price of crude oil soaring, leading to higher prices at the pump and elevated airfares.
Average gas prices nationwide topped $4 per gallon this week, and transatlantic airfares are up by about $200 on average compared to a month ago, according to a Deutsche Bank AG analysis.
Customers have rushed to book flights before rising fuel costs push ticket prices even higher; United Airlines warned last week it could hike prices by 20 percent if jet fuel prices don’t go down soon.
Those elevated travel costs have been exacerbated by a soft labor market, persistent inflation, and a weaker dollar.
“We have to take the gas price increase as part of a larger picture,” said Jan Freitag, the national director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group, in an interview with Bloomberg. “Airfares may just be the last straw.”
When gas prices are high, many travelers downgrade their trips instead of canceling them altogether, traveling shorter distances and spending fewer days away, according to tourism experts.
That creates a ripple effect where hotels and restaurants see less business.
The president has been desperate to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed in retaliation for deadly U.S.-Israeli strikes, in order to help ease fuel prices.
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