Unfortunately travelers are not expected to see any price relief this summer as analysts are predicting the industry will be seeing a surge of demand.

The analysis is being confirmed by industry insiders. Expedia Group (EXPE) CEO Peter Kern in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live said, “We’re seeing a ton of demand. Lots of demand domestically, lots of demand internationally…[with] still some tightness in supply in air. Unfortunately, that means prices are going to stay high for the summer.” 

Kern noted that they are also seeing various travel trends return to their pre-pandemic levels, such as travelers returning to big cities, and taking shorter length of stays.

He also noted that the number of travelers is increasing, saying, “More people want to travel generally. It’s not just revenge travel anymore.”

Other industry players are noting the same things. United Airlines (UAL) reiterated its full-year guidance in April, pointing out, “demand remains strong, especially internationally, where we are growing at twice the domestic rate.”

Speaking a few days later, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said to analysts, “We see a strong demand environment this summer, and we’re highly confident that that will continue going forward. If there’s one thing that the pandemic has taught us it’s that people innately desire to travel.”

This makes travel an industry that is bucking the trends elsewhere in the economy. Retailers such as Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) have indicated they see shoppers “trading down” due to financial difficulties, however according to industry leaders, travel is not seeing that at all.

Peter Kern said, “So far, and this is really across the globe, we’re not seeing any real downturn from anything we would all call economic pressure. Will it sustain itself forever? Who knows.”

“It appears that travel will remain on the top of the list of what people want to spend on,” he concluded.