Market trends

• Market recovery has been strong from the United States – spend levels to September are 104% and total visitation at 81% for 2023 vs 2019.
• The holiday segment continues to recover, with total holiday visitation at 77% 2023 vs 2019.
• Air fares are still an ongoing challenge in this market, however with capacity increased, whilst average air fares are still ahead of 2019, they are starting to normalise with regular tactical activity seeing Economy airfares from the US below $1000 and Business Class below $7000. Air capacity will be above pre-COVID levels by December 2024.
• The US economy continues to beat analysts forecast. Inflation is down on 12 months ago, although still above target range. Interest rates remain stable and are expected to fall during this year. Consumer spending is still holding as a result and American’s continue to prioritise spending on holidays over other discretionary items.

Buyer snapshot

This year we have a total of 62 buyers attending representing 51 buyer organisations. This includes delegates as part of our ATE Luxe Program. Many are returning buyers however we would like to highlight the following:

• American Airlines Vacations: having attended Australia Marketplace North America in the past this is their first time attending ATE. Liane Augustin is the Product Manager. AA Vacations see big opportunity for Australia, heightened with the announcement that AA will launch services between Dallas and Brisbane. For the last couple of years, they have been working on their product strategy and are looking to secure a preferred DMC for Australia soon.
• Avanti Destinations: Avanti are a returning buyer but a reminder to all that they just launched their Australia program in September and sales have been above expectations. Mark Grundy their COO and Janet Pinyoborisut their Senior Product Manager is in attendance. Pan Pacific is their DMC.
• ATE Luxe Delegates: A general highlight for our Luxe Buyers - 16 of our 18 are all new buyers to ATE. These are mostly independent contractors affiliated with our key preferred luxury consortia partners at Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network. Outside of these I wanted to highlight Ker and Downey’s attendance.

Consumer trends

• U.S. consumer confidence increased to a five-month high in December 23 (CCI 110.7), with Americans growing more optimistic about current and future business conditions as well as the labour market, which could help to underpin the economy early next year.
• Revenge travel demand starts to subside, and patterns begin to normalise to pre-COVID travel patterns and booking windows. Travel has been strong in surpassing pre-pandemic levels even though many Americans say they are worried about the economy.
• Our latest CDP shows the Americans are generally looking for access to Good Food and Wine/Cuisine, and culturally significant sights and natural wonders to explore. This supports the growing trend of cultural immersion and Indigenous experiences.