Do you have a favorite beach or mountain cabin that you go back to for vacation every year? It turns out, a lot of people do. There’s even a name for preferring to return to the same vacation destination year after year - “repeat traveling” - and a new survey finds that a third of Americans are big fans of it.
According to a poll of 2-thousand American travelers, more people are embracing the comfort of familiarity over the excitement of new destinations.
- One in three say they return to the same vacation spot every year, considering it like a second home.
- Some start to feel deep connections in that community, including nearly two-thirds (65%) of repeat visitors who say they feel like “locals” in their favorite vacation spots.
- Over half (54%) of respondents balance returning to familiar places and exploring new ones, while 25% “lean strongly toward loyalty,” 10% “always” go back to the same spot and 15% “often” do.
- Beachgoers are the most likely to identify as repeat travelers (35%), followed by theme park families (20%).
- The average repeat traveler has returned to the same vacation spot about five times, but their reasons for doing so are as different as the destinations themselves.
- Familiarity and comfort is the most popular reason (52%), but scenery (40%), traditions with friends and family (40%) and even the food scene (40%) also keep them coming back.
- But others enjoy traveling to the same destinations because of affordability (39%) and ease of planning (35%).
- Nearly two-thirds (69%) say they spend less when returning to somewhere they’ve been before - spending an average of $1,854 on a repeat destination, compared to $2,016 on a trip to a new one.
- Nostalgia is a big motivator for repeat travel, as 49% of parents have taken their kids to a place that was meaningful to them growing up. For 39%, they did it because they thought their children would love it, and 37% wanted to relive happy memories with them.
Source: Talker⠀