U.S. Travel Report Points To Positives For Lodging Industry

The U.S. Travel Association released the July 2015 U.S. Travel Outlook report with some positive indicators for the tourism and travel industry.

LEISURE TRAVEL
According to the June U.S. Travel Barometer, less than three quarters of U.S. resident searches were for future travel within the U.S., up slightly from the previous two months.

LODGING INDUSTRY
STR, a data service for the hotel industry, reported that U.S. RevPAR (Revenue per available room) growth softened in May. Still, occupancy ended the month at 67.5%, the highest ever reported for May, while demand broke an unprecedented 104 million room nights.

AIR TRAVEL
According to data recently released by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics first quarter airline financial, U.S. passenger airlines reported an after-tax net profit of $3.1 billion in the first quarter of 2015—the highest amount for a first quarter since bag fees started in 2008.

ROADS & RAILS
According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook, U.S. regular gasoline monthly average retail prices reached $2.80 per gallon in June, an increase of $0.08 from May, but still $0.89 lower than in June 2014.

BUSINESS TRAVEL
The Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) foundation released their 2015 Q2 Business Travel Outlook and estimated that $74.1 billion was spent on business travel in the U.S. in the first quarter.

See the full U.S. Travel Outlook July Report here.