Q3 Travel Outlook: Robust Summer 2025 Expected

Strong Summer 2025 Travel Outlook Amidst Economic and Political Uncertainty 

The travel outlook for summer 2025 is still uncertain; however, our airport partners are not expecting any drastic change in passenger traffic at this time.  Authorities in Dallas, Orlando, and Pittsburgh say that the reported economic uncertainty hasn’t yet impacted their passenger projections, and they still expect a ‘robust’ summer travel season. According to Deloitte 53% of Americans are planning to take a vacation this summer, up from 48% in 2024. Houston airport authorities predict 19.5 million people will fly through IAH and Houston between the Memorial and Labor Day holidays, an increase of a quarter million passengers over 2024.

International arrivals to the US are expected to decline slightly this year, in part due to political unpredictability however, domestic travel is surging with over 68% of Americans planning on staying domestic this summer. Amongst the top 5 domestic destinations this summer, Miami and Orlando consistently make the list, meaning that there will likely be an influx of passengers travelling through Miami International Airport and Orlando International Airport as key gateways into their respective cities.   

Outbound international corporate travel from the U.S. is also resilient; according to Flight Centre, outbound bookings are showing increases in key markets, including some in the double digits. Year on year, markets with a rise in bookings include South America (+53%), the UAE (+52%), Italy (+31%), Brazil (+17%), the UK (+7%), and Japan (+6%).

Research shows that summer travel budgets have shrunk for summer 2025; however, trip frequency has increased to an average of 3.1 compared to 2.3 in 2024. As a result of shrinking travel budgets, there has been a decrease in prices of international flights and hotels, enticing undecided travelers to make the most of lower travel costs and possibly boosting outbound international travel. Kayak notes that flights are cheaper by 11% to Asia, 8% to Europe and 5% to Africa compared to last year. 

According to Skyscanner, 64% of Americans have yet to book their summer vacation – 39% are actively looking and 25% have not started planning yet, creating the perfect opportunity for airlines to get ahead of their competitors. 

 Leveraging Airport OOH to Target Undecided Travelers 

Airports are extremely valuable environments for airlines to advertise new routes ahead of busy travel periods when demand for new exotic destinations is at an all-time high. With extended dwell times, limited distractions and a high traffic volume, our OOH inventory in the top airports across the country ensures strong visibility and engagement, ultimately having an influence on travel decisions. 

TAP airlines and Cathay Pacific are establishing a presence in LAX and DFW’s respective international terminals to promote their newest routes rolled out just in time for summer. In addition to encouraging brand loyalty, as travelers already utilizing these airlines are highly likely to be going through these terminals and are exposed to their OOH campaign, this strategy is designed to captivate a set of highly affluent individuals who are likely to spend more money on summer travel. In fact, a recent survey by Deloitte reveals that 49% of 2025 summer travelers are people with a household income of over $100,000.  

For airlines, this is a direct line to captivate a highly targeted and travel ready audience, composed of frequent fliers, business travelers, and leisure passengers. With many Americans still undecided on their summer 2025 travel plans due to economic and political uncertainty, this se