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50+ Hotel, Airline & Travel Statistics To Know Before Your Next Vacation [2023]

Alex Miller's image
Alex Miller
Alex Miller's image

Alex Miller

Founder & CEO

286 Published Articles

Countries Visited: 34U.S. States Visited: 29

Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
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Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

29 Published Articles 3051 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 45U.S. States Visited: 28

With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...

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Everyone enjoys going away on vacation. Having something to look forward to at the end of a busy working period is the mental boost a lot of us need to keep our wheels in motion. So when that enjoyment was thrown into question in early 2020, a lot of us became understandably concerned about what the future of travel might look like. 

A few years past the pandemic, where does the travel sector find itself? In this short statistical breakdown, we’re going to assess what the current landscape looks like for the hotel, airline, and travel industries. Make sure to keep these handy facts in mind before you plan your next vacation (and how to get there).

Hotel Statistics

Businessman Checking In At Hotel Reception Front Desk
Image Credit: Monkey Business Images via Shutterstock

The pandemic had a big impact on a lot of sectors in 2020 – and those in the hotel industry were certainly affected. However, encouraging figures show that the sector as a whole is rebounding strongly. 

Nominal room revenue (the amount made before overhead costs are factored in) is expected to reach $197.48 billion in U.S. hotel rooms in 2023 – up from $170.35 billion in the pre-pandemic days of 2019.  

The financial figures are encouraging for the most part, but do they represent where the industry currently finds itself? Read on to discover what the landscape of the hotel business looks like in 2023. 

Hotel Revenue Statistics

  1. Encouragingly, hotels are expected to generate as much as $46.71 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2023.
  2. That tax revenue is a $5.6 billion increase from the same figures in the pre-pandemic days of 2019. 
  3. The entire hospitality industry is expected to grow by 16.13% compound annual growth (CAGR) every year between 2023 and 2028, growing from $4,107.60 billion to $9,950 billion.
  4. The average annual revenue for an independent hotel in the U.S. is $94,464.
  5. At the other end of the spectrum, the chain that brings in the most money every year is Hilton – which generated $10.07 billion between September 2022 and 2023
  6. This was a 23.33% increase on Hilton’s sum total from 2022, which was in turn a 34.39% rise from 2021. 
  7. U.S. hotels achieved a 15.9% year-on-year growth between Q1 of 2022 and 2023.
  8. This growth cooled off to just a 1.1% increase between Q2 2023 and the same point the previous year. 

General Hotel Statistics 

  1. There were said to be as many as 107,258 hotels and motels across the U.S. alone in 2022. 
  2. The total number of hotels and motels represents an increase of 0.2% from the total number the previous year. 
  3. Current projections expect there to be a whopping 1.3 billion rooms occupied in total across 2023
  4. That total number of rooms occupied equates to 63.8% total occupancy across all hotel rooms for 2023. This was the highest rate since 2020. 
  5. Occupancy rates have increased by 1.1% since 2022.
  6. Total occupancy rates have dipped by 2.1% from the 2019 figures, which were 65.9%.
  7. 2023 also saw the highest employment rate for hotels since 2019, with as many as 2.09 million people finding work in the sector. 
  8. Las Vegas has the highest number of hotel rooms in a single U.S. city – with an estimated 150,000 as of 2023
  9. When it comes to the leading brand, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has the most locations anywhere in the US, with 6,065 in 2023
  10. The Wyndham Hotels & Resorts brand is the second largest chain on a global scale, with 9,280 total properties
  11. The largest chain is China’s Jin Jiang International, which has a grand total of 11,959 global properties

Hotel Guest Statistics 

  1. Kicking things off, Americans are said to be 60% more likely to stay in a hotel room* in 2023 than they were in 2022.
  2. The 3 primary factors that Americans took into account when booking a room were the price, location, and overall cleanliness and safety procedures.
  3. When it comes to overall cleanliness and safety procedures, 29% of guests see room cleaning as a priority in 2023 (up from 24% in 2020).
  4. 14% of guests are also concerned about their budget in 2023, which is another increase from 10% in 2020. 
  5. One area where concerns have dipped is being close to other guests. 17% of people worried about this in 2020, but just 8% cite this as their biggest concern in 2023.
  6. Surprisingly, despite hotels having a reputation more closely associated with a relaxing break away, as many as 53% of people say they’re likely to travel for business in 2023. 
  7. Just 36% of people say they’re likely to travel for leisure. 
  8. Hotels still remain the most popular option for accommodation when going on vacation. 52% of respondents they’ll stay at a hotel or similar type of accommodation, whereas just 31% would stay with friends or family. 
  9. As many as 84% of guests would be somewhat interested in “bleisure travel,” where a work trip gets extended for the purpose of leisure. 

*All stats taken from AHLA 2023 travel outlook report

Airline Statistics

Phone displaying flight delayed at airport
Image Credit: DavidPrado via Adobe Stock

Airlines were one of the most heavily impacted businesses during the height of the pandemic. Flights were routinely canceled, with fewer services running than at any other point in recent history. How has the airline industry rebounded since the bust of 2020? 

  1. Reports suggest that air traffic will reach as high as 95% of pre-pandemic figures by the end of 2023
  2. That air traffic figure equates to 4.35 billion people in 2023, compared to 4.54 billion in 2019. 
  3. Airlines are expected to post a $9.8 billion profit margin in 2023. 
  4. While this profit sounds like a staggering amount, in reality, it equates to just a 1.2% profit margin
  5. That 1.2% profit margin is a dip from the 4.2% achieved on average from 2015 to 2019. 
  6. In April of 2023, U.S. airline traffic had risen by 9.1% year-on-year, implying that air traffic is continuing to return to normal.
  7. This air traffic was also a 3.4% rise when compared to March of 2023. 
  8. U.S. airline passengers reached an all-time low of 3 million travelers in the month of April 2020. 
  9. The total number of passengers rose to a very healthy 78.2 million in April 2023. 
  10. Despite all the good news, overseas arrivals to U.S. airports in July of 2023 were still 22% lower than the same month of 2019
  11.  In total, U.S. airlines made a 5% net profit across the first half of 2023

General Travel Statistics

Family sitting in trunk of car
Image Credit: Day Of Victory Stu via Adobe Stock

With the talk of inflation looming over the heads of Americans, travel might be one of the top luxuries cut to help stick to budgets, but some stats show that Americans are eager to get out of their homes and hit the air or road.

  1. Expectations are for the U.S. tourism industry to contribute as much as $2.2 trillion towards the national GDP total. This is an increase on $2 trillion from 2022. 
  2. This increase in revenue is expected to translate into a total of 17.4 million jobs in the sector as a whole. 
  3. This rise in profits follows suit with travel trends, with as many as 84% of those going away planning to spend more in 2023 than the previous year. 
  4. A lot of travelers are still thinking frugally. 63% say they save money by using deals and hacks, while 61% achieve this by planning their holidays in advance to find cheaper prices. 
  5. Free parking at their end destination is considered to be the biggest incentive for anyone when looking to plan a holiday. 33% of holidaymakers cite this as their priority
  6. Discounts for early booking (32%), a discount for buying a full package (32%), and a discount for booking last minute (22%) are other incentives
  7. Travel loyalty and rewards programs also continue to be popular. Millennials are the demographic who use these services the most (48% are members of a program), followed by Gen Z (42%), and baby boomers (41%). 
  8. Younger travelers are the most likely to travel more. As many as 67% of Gen Z and millennials are more likely to travel in 2023 than they were in 2022
  9. When it came to the most popular global destinations, the U.S. city of New York ranked as one of the fastest-growing for search interest on Google. Other top spots included Dublin, Tokyo, and Sydney. 
  10. 78% of leisure travelers will stay domestic when going on vacation in 2023. 
  11. The primary reason for wanting to take a leisure trip was to get away and enjoy a break from reality, with 59% of people saying this. 
  12. 52% of respondents would go on to say the primary motive for their travel was to see friends or family elsewhere. 
  13. 40.3% of travelers say their travel plans are not flexible, with a firm destination set in their minds before they start planning their trip. 
  14. Virtual reality is beginning to play a part in people’s travel choices, with as many as 43% of vacationers saying they would use the technology as a springboard for inspiration. 
  15. The most popular type of vacation for 2023? Research by Booking.com found that nostalgic vacations were top of the list, with 88% of people agreeing that this was an important part of where they’d choose to visit. 
  16. Next on the list of primary motivators for choosing a vacation were community-minded trips (80%), laid-back luxury (78%), getting out of their comfort zone (73%), and a vacation that was centered around nightlife (72%).
  17. Most importantly of all, as many as 63% of travel industry experts predict overall industry figures to reach and exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2025. 

Final Thoughts

It goes without saying, the travel and hospitality industries were hit hard during the pandemic. Jobs were lost, which led to staffing shortages, and travel was restricted, which led to huge revenue losses for airlines and hotels. As Americans are starting to get back into the swing of traveling, we now have inflation and the rising cost of gas, airline tickets, hotel rooms, etc. As you head out on your next trip, whether that be for business or pleasure, it’s always best to pack your patience.

Alex Miller's image

About Alex Miller

Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business, The New York Times, and more.

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