Tight budgets haven't stopped Americans from booking holidays. MMGY's 2026 Portrait of American Travelers "Fall Edition", based on surveys of 4,500 US adults, finds expected leisure travel spending over the next 12 months at $5,655 per person, with nearly four trips planned — both figures up from the summer edition of the same study. The vacation, it turns out, is the last thing people cut.

What's changing is how trips get paid for. Over a third of travellers (35%) now shift their trips to off-peak periods to save money, and 32% are trimming spending elsewhere in their lives to keep the travel budget intact. Domestic trips are on the rise too, with 64% citing lower cost as a reason to holiday within the US. Importantly, value isn't just about price — travellers rank quality time with family and friends, lasting memories and good accommodation high on the list of what makes a trip worth it.

The headline numbers hide a sharp divide, though. Baby Boomers expect to spend $8,796 on travel in the coming year — four times the $2,195 that Gen Z travellers anticipate. Household income shapes intentions just as much, meaning the US travel market is fragmenting into very different audiences with very different definitions of a good deal.

AI is quietly becoming part of trip planning. Just over half of leisure travellers (51%) have used it to plan travel, an 11-point jump year over year, rising to 71% among Gen Z and 68% among households with kids. But only 4% rank AI among their first three planning steps — for now, it's a source of inspiration and discovery, not the tool people book with.

One motivator hasn't budged: the outdoors. Interest in national and state parks has held firm even as other travel motivations softened. Yellowstone tops the wishlist at 75% interest among park-goers, followed by the Grand Canyon at 66%.

For travellers, the practical read is simple: off-peak timing, domestic destinations and a clear sense of what you actually value are the moves of the moment — and if you want trip inspiration, a growing number of people are asking AI before they ask a travel agent. For the industry, MMGY's message is that knowing which audience you're selling to matters as much as knowing whether people want to travel at all.