6 Travel Trends From 'Portrait of American Travelers'

Now in its 28th year, MMGY Global's "Portrait of American Travelers" offers an insightful and actionable survey of the emerging vacation habits, preferences, and intentions of Americans. The study includes more than 400 variables, with the data provided on every variable for all travelers by generation and income group.

Here are some insights from this year's survey:

The trend of traveling for food is here to stay.
1. There is one major segment of travelers that is all about exploring the world through specifically authentic, local food -- Culinary Explorers. During the next 12 months, they intend to spend $5,066 on leisure travel, significantly more than non-explorers who intend to spend an average of $3,426 during the next 12 months.

What you don't expect from sharing economy travelers.
2. Forty-one percent of home sharing and 47 percent of ridesharing travelers (nearly half in each category) are not millennials.

3. Median age: 40 for home sharing travelers, 41 for ride-sharing travelers.

Wellness travelers go global, but they need help to stay on track.
4. During the past 12 months, 19 percent of wellness travelers went to international destinations (only 15 percent of remaining travelers).

5. Thirty-four percent of wellness travelers packed their workout clothes and shoes fully intending to exercise on vacation but didn't. This provides an opening for travel service providers to help these travelers meet their goals.

Travel forecast: The slowdown continues.
6. While vacation spending remains significantly ahead of spending during the years of the Great Recession, it remains down from its eight-year high in 2016. More notably, travel spending is down 5 percent from a year ago. Yet, when it comes to spending intentions for the year ahead, the news is more positive.