Longer Trips, International Travel Big this Fourth of July

*THIS DATA WAS PULLED 06/06/22

Americans are gearing up to celebrate the Fourth of July, and it is expected that this will be the most popular weekend for travel in the US this summer. We are zooming into Sojern’s travel intent data to see what’s in store for the Fourth of July.

Domestic Travel Dominates, but International Travel Up From Last Year

Looking at the top destinations for Fourth of July weekend, domestic travel is going to be massive with well over 60% of travelers searching for travel within the United States. This is down from 2021, where nearly 80% of Independence Day-related travel was domestic. In 2021, those traveling internationally still stayed relatively close to home with most of the top destinations being in the Caribbean. This year, Europe also features heavily with the likes of the UK, Italy, Spain, and France all making the top 10 destinations for American travelers.

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‍Travel Marketing Tip: Whether you have engaging cities, beautiful beaches, or an epic food scene—video is by far the best way to showcase your stunning destination to travelers this July Fourth and beyond. Find out how we worked with the Polish Tourism Organization, using video to drive travelers to Poland.

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Those Staying Domestic Are Headed for Sunshine

For those searching for domestic travel, they are headed for states guaranteed to have great weather. Florida, California, Texas, and Nevada are the top domestic destinations for 2022, and this remains unchanged from last year.

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Travel Marketing Tip: Whether they are headed to a sunny state or not, travelers spend 5X more time on Facebook than any other travel-related touchpoint. If your brand is not there, someone else’s will be! Make sure that you are getting your message out to travelers wherever they are online, including social media.

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Travelers Looking at Longer Trips this Year

Last year, the majority of travel searches for the Fourth of July weekend were under a week in duration with nearly two-thirds of travelers searching for travel between two and seven days. This may be because July Fourth fell on a Sunday, and some travelers felt a shorter trip on a weekend was adequate.

This year, we are seeing searches for much longer trips. Nearly half of travel searches are for four to seven days in length, and a further third of travel searches are for trips longer than eight days. This could be due to the increase in international searches that are happening this year. With travel becoming the easiest it has been in over two years, pent up demand for travel is being realized.

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Travel Marketing Tip: Listen up, hoteliers! People are looking at longer trips this year - make sure you are enticing them to book with your property. Consider updating your ad creative with incentives for booking those long stays directly, such as an upgrade, including a bottle of bubbly in the room at check-in, or free Wifi.

Wishing everyone a safe and sunny Fourth of July, wherever you are headed! If you are looking to make the most of this busy travel period, speak to our team now.