Travelers are eager to hit the road in 2025 with more trips and longer stays, but international policy developments in the U.S. are nudging many to reconsider how and where they go, according to the spring 2025 edition of the “Traveler Sentiment and Safety Survey” conducted by Global Rescue.
The survey found that more than 50 percent of respondents plan to take more trips this year compared to 2024 and more than 27 percent expect to spend more money and those trips to be longer. Nearly a quarter said they plan to spend more on travel this year; however, a third (33 percent) selected “none of the above,” signaling a level of caution or restraint amid mixed signals in the global travel environment.
“Traveler enthusiasm for 2025 is strong, but it’s being tempered by the real-world impact of U.S. policy abroad,” said Dan Richards, CEO of The Global Rescue Companies and a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board at the U.S. Department of Commerce. “We’re seeing people express a clear desire to travel more, yet also signaling hesitations tied to policy developments that affect international mobility and destination choice.”
When asked whether U.S. international policy initiatives make them more or less likely to travel, more than a third of respondents (34 percent) indicated they are generally less likely to travel. Specifically, 6 percent reported being “much less likely,” 18 percent “somewhat less likely” and 10 percent “less likely” to travel. Most respondents (55 percent) stated that the policies would not affect their travel decisions either way.
Richards noted, “It’s telling that more than a third of travelers feel less likely to travel due to U.S. international initiatives. The data reveals an undercurrent of hesitancy tied to how policy impacts the perceived ease, cost or safety of international travel.”
Among those surveyed, 18 percent say their travel plans have already changed due to U.S. international policies and 22 percent are still considering whether to change their plans. For those whose plans have shifted, more than half (55 percent) are changing which countries they’ll visit; 34 percent are postponing international travel altogether; and a quarter (24 percent) say they are no longer traveling internationally in 2025.
“Policies don’t operate in a vacuum—they influence real travel decisions,” Richards emphasized. “When travelers start revising their destinations or shelving international travel plans altogether, that’s a signal to policymakers that the ripple effects of their decisions are being felt on the ground.”
For more information, visit www.globalrescue.com.
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