New Outpayce research reveals high-earning households to fuel continued travel surge

International travel is high priority for 68% of high-earning households

The second edition of the Consumer Travel Spend Priorities’ research conducted by Outpayce from Amadeus has revealed that high-earning households will drive continued strong demand for international travel over the coming twelve months.

Despite continuing economic uncertainty, higher earners – categorised as households with more than $120,000 in pre-tax income per annum — prioritised international travel.

It revealed that they cited successful investments, savings made during the pandemic and pay rises as key enablers for this.

It found that international travel was deemed a “high priority” by 68% of higher earners compared to 47% across all salary brackets.

Moreover, 65% of higher earners plan to take more international trips over the coming 12 months than they did in 2019, compared to 38% of respondents across all income brackets.

While 58% of higher earners plan to spend more on international travel over the coming 12 months than they did in 2019, compared to an average of 36% across all salary brackets.

They also expect to spend on average $7,413 on international travel over the coming 12 months, compared to an average of $3,422 across all salary brackets.

Jean-Christophe Lacour, SVP global head of product management and delivery, Outpayce from Amadeu, said: “We’re seeing continued strong demand for travel across most parts of the world and it’s clear that higher-earning households are major contributors to this trend.

“Our own Demand 360 data shows hotel occupancy in exclusive destinations like Palermo, Rome and San Sebastien is more than 10% higher than last year.”

He added: “If travel companies are to continue attracting higher earners, they must offer exceptional retail experiences.

“Take airlines, for example. To increase margins, they must offer passengers full transparency on foreign exchange costs.

“Today, travelers expect payments to be seamless, simple, and in their local currency.

“By handling conversions internally, airlines can reduce fees for the customer, and in some cases, double the profit earned on a ticket, as we we’ve witnessed from one of our airline customers”