Global traveller spend has been breaking records in 2024, according to a new report by the Mastercard Economics Institute which has identified key tourism trends based on consumer spending.
The Travel Trends 2024 report revealed that the global travel sector is flourishing, with nine of the last 10 record-setting spending days in the global cruise and airline industry occurring this year.
It also identified other key trends of note for South African operators:
Leisure for longerGlobal trends show that the duration of the average holiday has increased by about an extra day, going from four days between March 2019 and February 2020, to five days as of March 2024.
In South Africa, this trend is even more pronounced, with the average length of stay increasing by almost three days from 7.8 days to 10.6 days currently.
