Affordability is reshaping who travels and how. Read Deloitte’s 2026 Summer Travel Survey and discover how high-income millennials, AI-driven trip planning, and value-focused decisions are emerging as key trends.
Three findings worth watching
- Only 45% of surveyed Americans planned a summer vacation with paid lodging, the lowest share in six years.
- Travelers with household income of $100,000 or more were expected to represent 55% of the traveling public, up from 50% in 2025.
- More than eight in 10 high-income millennials planned to travel, and 43% of that group said they use generative AI in trip planning.
My takeaway
The travel market is not simply weakening or strengthening. It is separating. Affordability is keeping more households home, while many of the people who do travel remain determined to protect the quality of the experience. That makes value design more important than broad discounting.
For travel brands, the opportunity is to understand which compromises a customer will accept and which parts of the trip they are trying to preserve. AI can help with planning and relevance, but it still has to lead to choices that feel useful, transparent, and worth the spend.
Source and context
This commentary was originally published on LinkedIn in response to Flight or Fold: 2026 Deloitte Summer Travel Survey.