With the July 4th holiday week underway, Orlando is expected to see a busy weekend with travelers to our destination. According to our data, advance bookings for the 4th of July period in Orlando are up 16% from last year. This positive performance echos AAA national estimates for a record traveler volume for the holiday week.
At our Industry Insights Forum last week, our research and insights team shared a broader look at travel trends and destination performance. On a national level, summer travel outlook continues to be strong, with 65% of American travelers planning trips between June and Aug 2024. However, we continue to see a significant appeal for Americans to travel abroad, with 32% expecting to take international leisure trips over the next 12 months.
With that increased competition in mind and after seeing outlook reports back in March indicating a softening for Orlando’s summer travel season, Visit Orlando launched a summer-focused campaign in April to drive demand among U.S. travelers. Updated summer estimates for on-the-books room nights show that for leisure travel, we’ve been able to move the needle to be on track to achieve performance comparable to 2023.
For the group segment, our team also shared several national trends impacting meetings and conventions business in Orlando. Planners are citing high prices as a key challenge, with secondary markets providing an opportunity to lower prices. In addition, late attendee registrations continue to impact room block guarantees. Orlando sees a higher level than average of late registrations due to a large drive market audience, who may opt to book days before the trip instead of months or weeks.
For another opportunity to dive deeper into data and insights, we invite you to attend our Insights Luncheon & Economic Forum on August 23rd at Hilton Orlando. Registration is now live.
