Road trips a top contender for summer travel in 2023
A survey conducted by Driven Brands in April 2023 reports the latest road trip trends and how people plan to move around this year.
With the summer season fast approaching, taking some well-deserved time off is on everyone’s minds. However, many factors have shifted how people approach travel. Despite challenges, recent research shows that people still want to plan a getaway, and the road trip is a top contender as their mode of transportation.
Driven Brands conducted an online survey in April 2023 to follow up on a January 2023 survey that explores people’s travel habits. The survey asked a total of 13 questions to 1,057 American vehicle owners with a valid driver’s license between 18 to 64 years old. Here are the results.
How likely are people to travel by vehicle in 2023?
At the start of this year, many weren’t sure what their travel plans for this year would look like – or if they’d be able to take any vacation time at all. In January 2023, only 47% of people had solidified any travel plans; this number has increased by 31 points, with 78% of April 2023 survey participants noting they have since confirmed their travel arrangements.
Approximately two-thirds of consumers have already taken one or more trips in 2023; within this group, 71% used their personal car as a mode of transportation.
Do more road trips mean an increase in car maintenance?
With vacation plans locked and loaded, are people ensuring their car is ready to hit the road? The survey results show that most participants schedule car maintenance before a road trip.
Nearly 8 out of 10 respondents said they are likely to get an oil change before they travel and 7 out of 10 noted they are likely to get a car wash.
What’s the average distance people are willing to travel by car?
While traveling by car is still a popular choice among travelers, it appears to be reserved for mostly shorter journeys. The survey results show that only 4 in 10 respondents plan to travel over 500 miles, which is consistent with responses from earlier in the year.
Compared to previous results in January 2023, consumers in the April 2023 survey are more likely to use an airplane (+9 ppts), a rental car (+6 ppts), a train (+8 ppts), or a bus (+7 ppts) to reach their destination.
What are the primary reasons people might not want to travel?
Financial reasons (56%), inflation (39%), and gas prices (36%) remain the top reasons survey participants cited for choosing not to travel in the coming months.
However, the April 2023 survey results show that more adults cited work demands and lack of vacation time as reasons for putting off travel versus COVID-19 risk, which was previously one of the main factors people cited for opting out of travel plans.