Americans Are Skipping the Hotel, Not the Trip

Fewer than half of Americans intend to book a summer vacation that includes a paid hotel or rental this year. That single number, 45%, marks the lowest share of paid-lodging vacation planning in six years, and it sits in uneasy company. The same travelers report record budgets and rank travel as a top priority. They have not stopped wanting to go. They are rethinking where, how, and on whose couch they sleep.

The 2026 American Travel & Tourism Pulse is a national study by Miss Investigate of 2,010 U.S. adults who took or plan to take at least one leisure trip in 2026. It measured vacation intent, budgets, the retreat from international trips, destination preference, and the newer habits reshaping the season, from AI trip planning to event-driven travel. The backdrop is a travel economy the U.S. Travel Association forecasts will reach a record USD 1.37 trillion in 2026, with domestic travel accounting for 87% of that total, roughly USD 1.20 trillion (U.S. Travel Association, 2026). The household picture behind that number is not a collapse in demand. It is a reallocation.

Because the constraint is not money, it is where the money lands. Only 45% of respondents plan a summer trip with at least one night of paid lodging, while the plurality, 30%, set their maximum annual leisure travel budget in the USD 5,000 to 7,999 range. That band sits just above the record USD 6,556 average maximum leisure travel budget reported for 2026 by an American travel-sentiment tracker (Hotel News Resource, 2026). Intent to book paid lodging skews young, falling from 52% among 18-to-24-year-olds to 38% among those 65 and over.

Lodging choices show where the budgets are going. Hotels remain the most common plan at 41%, but staying with friends or family, at 24%, now edges out short-term rentals at 22%. Camping and RV trips account for 9%.

The record budget is real, but travelers are protecting the trip and cutting its most flexible line item, the hotel.

Close to home, and increasingly outdoors. Eighty percent of respondents describe their next 12 months as domestic-only or mostly domestic, and 88% plan at least one trip outside their home state. Only 2% plan international travel exclusively. That domestic tilt matches the national accounts, where the U.S. Travel Association attributes 87% of 2026 travel spending to domestic trips. Regionally, Midwesterners are the most homebound, with 54% planning domestic-only travel, compared with 41% in the West.

Destination interest confirms the pull toward open space. Beaches lead at 46% and cities follow at 38%, but national parks and outdoor destinations register 34%, ahead of international destinations at 22% and theme parks at 19%.

The domestic pivot is a preference, not a fallback: open space outdraws every international option.

The retreat is broad and, counterintuitively, steepest at the top. Forty-three percent of respondents traveled abroad less over the past year. Among them, 65% cite economic uncertainty and 42% cite rising travel costs, with 35% saying they prefer domestic travel and 22% pointing to safety concerns.

The pullback rises with income rather than falling with it. Fifty-one percent of households earning USD 150,000 or more traveled abroad less, against 37% of those under USD 50,000. Higher earners have the means and are still choosing to stay closer to home.

Among high earners, staying home reads less like a budget cut and more like a choice.

They rank it high and feel cautiously optimistic. Sixty percent of respondents rate travel a high priority for the next three months, a figure that closely matches the 61.5% of American travelers who ranked travel a high spending priority in an independent 2026 sentiment tracker. On the outlook for their own finances, 45% expect to be better off over the next 12 months, 33% expect no change, and 22% expect to be worse off.

Optimism about the future and restraint in the present live inside the same traveler.

Not yet, and intent trails trial. Just 33% of respondents say they are likely to use AI tools to help plan a trip in the next year, while 46% land in the unlikely half of the scale. That intent figure runs below real-world adoption: about 38% of U.S. travelers say they have already tried AI for trip planning, against roughly 90% who know it is possible (TakeUp, 2026). Alongside AI, two older habits are shaping the season: 45% are interested in shoulder-season travel, and 24% are planning a trip tied to a major 2026 event such as the World Cup, a concert tour, or a festival.

AI is now a mainstream option in trip planning, but not yet a mainstream habit.

The through-line of the 2026 data is substitution, not retreat. Americans are protecting the trip and cutting around it, swapping hotels for spare bedrooms, passports for state lines, and cities for national parks. If finances improve as many expect, some of that restraint may loosen. For now, the record budgets are real, the intent is intact, and the money is landing closer to home.

How many Americans plan a paid-lodging vacation in 2026?
45% of U.S. travelers plan a summer 2026 vacation with at least one night of paid lodging, the lowest share in six years.

Are Americans traveling domestically or internationally in 2026?
80% plan mostly or exclusively domestic travel over the next 12 months, and 88% plan at least one trip outside their home state.

Who is pulling back from international travel?
43% of travelers went abroad less over the past year, rising to 51% among households earning USD 150,000 or more.

What destinations do Americans want most in 2026?
Beaches lead at 46%, cities follow at 38%, and national parks and outdoor destinations reach 34%.

Are Americans using AI to plan trips?
Just 33% say they are likely to use AI tools to plan a trip in the next year, trailing the roughly 38% of U.S. travelers who have already tried AI planning.

Is travel still a spending priority for Americans?
60% rate travel a high spending priority for the next three months, even as households scrutinize other categories.