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In 2024, many inflation-squeezed consumers looked to budget-dining options or simply ate more meals at home. How did full-service chains Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse drive foot traffic in such a challenging macroeconomic environment? We dove into the data to find out.
In 2024, value was a key ingredient in Chili’s and Texas Roadhouses’ recipes for success – although each chain used a different strategy to communicate its affordability to consumers.
Chili’s leaned into budget-friendly meal deals in 2024. The chain’s rebooted 3 For Me value menu drove significant traffic in Q2 2024 (9.7% visit growth YoY), and visits skyrocketed again in the fall, due in part to the viral Fried Mozzarella appetizer, part of a Triple Dipper deal, and the promotional $6 “Witches Brew” margarita – propelling the chain to 23.0% YoY visit growth in Q4 2024.
Texas Roadhouse, on the other hand, doesn’t run promotions – and instead relies on its already strong value perception to drive traffic when budgets are tight. But the chain’s consistent YoY visit growth (7.2% in 2024) was also likely due to its growing real estate footprint: over 30 new locations that are approximately 10% larger than previous builds, allowing for higher guest volumes.
Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse’s value perception appears to attract many consumers from lower-income households – but the chains drive traffic from diners with slightly more discretionary income as well.
Diving into the demographic characteristics of visitors revealed that in 2024, Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse received a smaller share of visits from the households earning over $100K/year compared to the nationwide distribution. (Texas Roadhouse served a slightly smaller share of these households, likely due to its smaller market strategy.) At the same time, both chains drove a larger share of traffic from households earning less than $50K/year and between $50K and $100K/year, compared to the nationwide distribution. This suggests that Chili's and Texas Roadhouse visitors are likely seeking value for money, but a significant share have more discretionary income to spend on higher-priced items – like top-shelf margaritas and steaks – than the average U.S. consumer.
As Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse continue investing in innovations and technological solutions to improve efficiency and customer experience, the chains are likely to continue attracting visitors looking to get the most bang for their dining bucks in 2025.
Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse may attract visitors from a similar demographic, but analysis of the markets in which the chains drive the most visits reveals several distinct regional preferences among dining consumers nationwide.
In 2024, Texas Roadhouse received a greater share of visits in a majority of Midwest and Mid-Atlantic CBSAs – consistent with a smaller market strategy – while Chili's drove a greater share of visits in denser markets and a majority of the CBSAs in California, Texas, and Florida.
But despite these regional differences, the chains received a near-even share of visits. Texas Roadhouse, with 675 U.S. locations, claimed 51.2% of visits to both chains, while Chili’s with over 1200 locations claimed 48.8% of the chains’ combined visits.
Chili’s and Texas Roadhouse have found success by providing value for money that sets them apart from other full-service chains. Yet, both chains drive an above-average share of high-income traffic, indicating that they are winning with value-conscious consumers with the means to indulge.
For more data-driven dining insights, visit Placer.ai.
College students often have to count their pennies – but they also know how to have a good time and are willing to pony up for things that matter to them. So with spring semester underway, we dove into the data to explore collegiate dining habits in the University City district of Philadelphia, PA – home to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, as well as several smaller schools. How does the campus vibe impact visitation trends at local convenience stores and restaurants?
We dove into the data to find out.
Wawa – famous for low prices and round-the-clock service – is the perfect place to grab a sandwich to fuel an all-night study session or a cup of coffee on the go. And the University City Wawa at 3724-2744 Spruce Street is a local landmark, serving everyone from students and university employees to other area residents.
Analyzing visitation patterns at the Spruce Street Wawa shows that the store’s visitation patterns mirror the rhythms of campus life – with an uptick in late-night visits and fewer early-morning ones. Between September and December 2024, for example, some 8.7% of visits to the Spruce Street location took place between midnight and 3:00 AM – far exceeding the chainwide average of 3.8%. Meanwhile, visits during the early morning hours (6:00 AM to 9:00 AM) remained subdued – a trend consistent with the typical university lifestyle. And while the average Wawa’s traffic peaked during lunchtime, the Spruce Street location peaked between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM – prime afternoon snack time.
Examining the Spruce Street Wawa’s captured market – i.e. the census block groups (CBGs) feeding visits to the store, weighted to reflect the share of visits from each CBG – shows that it is indeed college students driving the location’s late-night activity. Between September and December 2024, 63.3% of the Spruce Street Wawa’s captured market during the 12:00 AM - 3:00 AM daypart was made up of STI:Landscape’s “Collegian” segment – a group encompassing currently-enrolled college students living in dorms or off campus. By 3:00 AM, this share dropped to 12.2%, before bottoming out at 10.1% between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM – unthinkably early for many undergrads. The share of “Collegians” then began to climb back upwards, reaching just over 50.0% in the evening.
Of course, Wawa isn’t the only local dining spot to benefit from student patronage. Local favorites – from the full-service White Dog Cafe in University City to the quick-serve Kiwi Yogurt on Chestnut St. – also attract plenty of undergrads.
But while Kiwi Yogurt stands out as a key weekday attraction for busy students, White Dog Cafe is more of a weekend destination. On Mondays through Fridays, the share of “Collegians” in Kiwi Yogurt’s captured market stood at 36.4%, dropping to 22.6% on weekends. Meanwhile, White Dog Cafe experienced an opposite trend, with the share of “Collegians” increasing on weekends (36.7%) and declining during the week (24.5%).
Whether it’s a late-night Wawa hoagie run or a weekend brunch at White Dog Cafe, even skint college students can find room in their budgets for convenient snacks and fun outings with friends – funneling steady foot traffic to local restaurants, cafes, and stores.
How will student dining trends continue to evolve in 2025?
Follow Placer.ai to find out.
Looking at the discretionary categories that outperformed this holiday season, we may be on the cusp of a new trend heading into 2025: reinvention. Our data highlights that home furnishings, beauty, and apparel were among the top-performing discretionary retail categories in terms of year-over-year visits during November and December, as shown below.
The performance of these three categories is notable for different reasons. After significant declines earlier in the year, the home furnishings category rebounded strongly. As discussed in November, this recovery was supported by strength in the housewares category and mattress retailers. Housewares retail has generally outperformed home furnishings over the past few years – a trend partly attributed to increased out-of-home entertaining. While purchasing gifts for hosts likely drive visits for some home furnishing retailers, we may now be entering a replacement cycle for many home furnishing products purchased during the pandemic, which could further support the category’s recovery. In other words, many consumers may be looking to reinvent their personal spaces starting with their homes.
The strength in beauty and apparel may reflect a broader trend of personal reinvention. What fueled this movement? It could be as simple as buying a new outfit for a holiday party or experimenting with seasonal beauty products. However, several apparel retailers we spoke to over the past few months pointed to additional factors, including health and wellness trends. 2024 saw a rise in in-person workouts (one of the strongest retail categories in year-over-year visitation), greater adoption of technology-driven fitness and wellness routines, and increased use of wellness supplements and GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro. Retailers noted that healthier lifestyles during 2024 drove increased demand for apparel this holiday season—a trend that could have substantial implications for the year ahead.
Overall food-away-from-home spending grew in 2024, driven by decelerating inflation and a robust economy that eased budgetary concerns. How did coffee chains, one of the largest discretionary food categories, perform?
We took a closer look at foot traffic to Starbucks and Dunkin’ to find out.
Despite the ongoing consumer uncertainty, 2024 visits to Starbucks and Dunkin’ remained close to 2023 levels. The traffic trends range from 2.9% down year-over-year (YoY) to 1.9% up YoY for Starbucks, and from 1.3% down to 1.9% up YoY for Dunkin’ – a testament to coffee’s enduring draw.
While the YoY visit patterns to Starbucks and Dunkin’ were relatively similar in 2024, the two chains experienced distinct visitation patterns throughout the day. During the early morning daypart (6:00 - 9:59 AM), Dunkin’ attracted 39.9% of its visitors, while Starbucks received only 29.9% of its customers before 10 AM. However, as the day transitioned into evening, Starbucks took the lead, capturing 23.7% of visitors during the 3:00 - 6:59 PM daypart, significantly higher than Dunkin’s 16.4%.
These visitation patterns highlight distinct opportunities for both chains to expand their appeal across different dayparts. Dunkin’ could offer afternoon specials to attract more visitors in the afternoon and evening daypart, and Starbucks could broaden its breakfast offerings to capture a larger share of the early morning crowd.
A closer look at Starbucks’ daily visitation patterns highlights the chain’s mastery in leveraging calendar events and special promotions to boost foot traffic. Events like Red Cup Day and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) deals, including on Mother’s Day, drove impressive visits bumps ranging from 28.1% to 40.4% higher than the 2024 daily visit average.
These promotions appear to have been so successful that Starbucks, under the leadership of new C.E.O. Brian Niccol, announced it would scale them back – in part to restore the chain’s “coffeehouse roots” and avoid over-crowded stores on promotion days. But even without special discounts in the last five weeks of the year, Starbucks still received major traffic spikes on key shopping days like Super Saturday and Black Friday, with visits surging 27.5% and 26.6% above the YTD daily average, respectively. This highlights the brand’s ability to drive strong performance even with fewer promotions during peak seasons.
As part of the effort to elevate the in-store experience, Starbucks has also announced plans to implement a code of conduct, with the goal of facilitating the creation of an “inviting and welcoming community coffeehouse.” One significant shift, coming into effect on January 27th, bars people from lingering in its facilities without making a purchase.
A closer look at dwell time for the chain reveals that the vast majority of visits to the chain are currently less than 10 minutes long, with mobile orders making up almost a third of total Starbucks orders. The predominance of short visits and the popularity of mobile orders indicates that many Starbucks customers likely prioritize convenience, and prefer to grab a drink to go without taking advantage of the coffeehouse amenities. But with new incentives – including a free refill policy for all customers, not just loyalty club members – dwell times may well go up over the coming months.
Starbucks and Dunkin’ continued serving coffee drinkers in 2024, despite the ongoing constraints on many consumers' discretionary spending budgets.
Will Starbucks and Dunkin’ continue to drive visits into 2025? Visit Placer.ai for the latest data-driven dining insights.
Placer.ai observes a panel of mobile devices in order to extrapolate and generate visitation insights for a variety of locations across the U.S. This panel covers only visitors from within the United States and does not represent or take into account international visitors.
The end of the year is a time of bustling activity as many Americans travel to visit family and friends, go on vacation, and enjoy recreational attractions. Using the latest location analytics for transportation hubs, hotels, museums, and aquariums, we uncover key trends in consumer behavior during the holiday season.
The end of the year was a busy travel period as consumers visited family and friends or headed out on vacation. Between December 18th and December 23rd, visits to major airports and ground transportation hubs (train and bus stations) were higher than the 2024 same-day average, with visits to both ground and air travel hubs peaking on Super Saturday (December 21st).
Visits to transportation hubs then fell on December 24th and 25th 2024 – although the drop was much more dramatic for airports than for train and bus stations – as many people stayed in place for the duration of the holiday.
Visits to transportation hubs remained slightly below the same-day yearly average on Boxing Day, December 26th, 2024 – although traffic to both airports and ground transportation hubs increased compared to the Christmas lull, as some travelers began to make their return trips. But starting on December 27th, traffic trends for the two types of transportation hubs began to diverge: visits to ground transportation hubs were above average same-day levels, whereas airport visit levels remained below average until the following day, December 28th, 2024. This could indicate that air travelers, who may spend more on transportation or travel greater distances, stay longer at their destination to make the journey worthwhile.
Although ground transportation hubs and airports experienced elevated traffic over the majority of the holiday period, the same did not appear to be the case in the hospitality space.
Between December 18th and December 29th, 2024, daily visits to almost all hotel categories – from economy to upper upscale – remained below the same-day average for 2024. The decrease in business travel during this time, coupled with the tendency for those visiting family and friends to stay with their hosts, likely accounted for this trend. Only the luxury hotel category – which doesn’t typically receive business guests – saw elevated daily visits beginning on December 22nd, 2024, likely driven by affluent holiday vacationers.
During the final days of 2024 – December 30th and 31st – all six hotel categories experienced their most robust foot traffic of the period, and most saw their visits surge above the yearly same-day average. This suggests that many consumers, traveling at various hospitality tiers, took hotel-based vacations after spending Christmas at home or at the home of a loved one.
As consumers leveraged time off in the second half of December, museums and aquariums appeared to be popular attractions.
December 23rd, 2024 saw the first visit surge of the period for museums (31.7% above the yearly same-day average) and aquariums (12.6% above the yearly same-day average), perhaps as consumers sought out activities to do with visiting guests.
Following a brief visitation lull on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, foot traffic to museums and aquariums increased again and remained elevated between December 26th through the end of the year. And both museums and aquariums saw their largest visit peaks of the period on December 30th, 2024 (106.3% and 75.2% above average, respectively), suggesting that these attractions were popular with holiday visitors and end-of-year vacationers alike.
Analysis of transportation hubs, hotels, and leisure venues reveals shifting travel patterns and consumer behaviors during the final weeks of the year. The data suggests that while ground transportation users and air travelers alike typically travel before Christmas Eve, air travelers likely prefer to spend a little extra time at their holiday destination. And although travel is an integral part of the holiday season, most hotel categories don’t see elevated visits until the last few days of the year when family affairs have concluded and vacations are in full swing. Similarly, museums and aquariums sustain elevated traffic for several days after the holiday, as consumers leverage their time off for unique experiences.
For more data-driven insights, visit Placer.ai.
About the Convention Center Index: The Placer.ai Convention Center Index analyzes foot traffic to nearly 150 major convention and conference centers across the country. It excludes resorts and stadiums.
Convention centers serve as hubs for networking, trade shows, and corporate events. But the pandemic brought in-person gatherings to a halt, with businesses pivoting to online conferences – or eschewing them altogether.
And though social-distancing and other pandemic-era restrictions have lifted, the changes in the office and business world continue to linger. With that in mind, we took a closer look at the visitation data to these centers to see how convention center traffic trends and visitor demographics have shifted since pre-pandemic.
COVID-19 profoundly disrupted in-person networking. Now, nearly five years later, its impact on business travel and corporate events still lingers as virtual and hybrid events remain popular. However, similar to the return-to-office trends Placer.ai has tracked over the past few years, convention centers are also showing signs of slow but steady recovery.
While 2024 visits to convention centers nationwide were still 11.2% lower, on average, than in pre-pandemic 2019, traffic was also 3.3% higher than in 2023 and a significant 21.3% higher than in 2022. So – while the frequency and magnitude of in-person business events are not quite back to pre-pandemic levels yet, the visit trends indicate that the convention center recovery story is still being written.
The pandemic’s impact extends beyond overall attendance numbers – diving deeper into the data also reveals shifts in when people visit convention centers. The share of weekend visits jumped from 44.5% in 2019 to 46.9% in 2022 and has remained relatively steady ever since. This suggests that convention centers may have pivoted to hosting concerts, sporting matches, and other leisure events to make up for the dip in business conferences and conventions.
Analyzing the trade areas from where convention centers draw their visits also reveals that the demographics of convention center visitors has shifted since the pandemic. The median household income (HHI) of visitors to convention centers has steadily increased each year analyzed, rising from $86.6K in 2019 to $88.4K in 2024. Similarly, visitors in 2024 were more likely to come from captured market trade areas with higher shares of the “Power Elite” segment than in 2019.
These two metrics indicate a shift in the profile of convention visitors. As virtual attendance becomes more normalized, many companies may be becoming more intentional about subsidising business travel and trade show attendance, reserving in-person events for higher-level executives, decision-makers, or industry leaders. This shift has significant implications for the industry, as convention centers may need to adapt their offerings and facilities to cater to the needs and preferences of this more specialized demographic.
The convention center space appears to be on a slow and steady recovery – and while visits may not return to their pre-pandemic highs, the share of weekend visit growth and increasing attendance of higher-profile professionals indicate that the segment is pivoting.
Will convention centers and office spaces continue to recover? Visit Placer.ai for the latest office and business foot traffic trends.
The pandemic and economic headwinds that marked the past few years presented the multi-billion dollar hotel industry with significant challenges. But five years later, the industry is rallying – and some hotel segments are showing significant growth.
This white paper delves into location analytics across six major hotel categories – Luxury Hotels, Upper Upscale Hotels, Upscale Hotels, Upper Midscale Hotels, Midscale Hotels, and Economy Hotels – to explore the current state of the American hospitality market. The report examines changes in guest behavior, personas, and characteristics and looks at factors driving current visitation trends.
Overall, visits to hotels were 4.3% lower in Q2 2024 than in Q2 2019 (pre-pandemic). But this metric only tells part of the story. A deeper dive into the data shows that each hotel tier has been on a more nuanced recovery trajectory.
Economy chains – those offering the most basic accommodations at the lowest prices – saw visits down 24.6% in Q2 2024 compared to pre-pandemic – likely due in part to hotel closures that have plagued the tier in recent years. Though these chains were initially less impacted by the pandemic, they were dealt a significant blow by inflation – and have seen visits decline over the past three years. As hotels that cater to the most price-sensitive guests, these chains are particularly vulnerable to rising costs, and the first to suffer when consumer confidence takes a hit.
Luxury Hotels, on the other hand, have seen accelerated visit growth over the past year – and have succeeded in closing their pre-pandemic visit gap. Upscale chains, too, saw Q2 2024 visits on par with Q2 2019 levels. As tiers that serve wealthier guests with more disposable income, Luxury and Upscale Hotels are continuing to thrive in the face of headwinds.
But it is the Upper Midscale level – a tier that includes brands like Trademark Collection by Wyndham, Fairfield by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express by IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Hampton by Hilton – that has experienced the most robust visit growth compared to pre-pandemic. In Q2 2024, Upper Midscale Hotels drew 3.5% more visits than in Q2 2019. And during last year’s peak season (Q3 2023), Upper Midscale hotels saw the biggest visit boost of any analyzed tier.
As mid-range hotels that still offer a broad range of amenities, Upper Midscale chains strike a balance between indulgence and affordability. And perhaps unsurprisingly, hotel operators have been investing in this tier: In Q4 2023, Upper Midscale Hotels had the highest project count of any tier in the U.S. hotel construction and renovation pipeline.
The shift in favor of Upper Midscale Hotels and away from Economy chains is also evident when analyzing changes in relative visit share among the six hotel categories.
Upper Midscale hotels have always been major players: In H1 2019 they drew 28.7% of overall hotel visits – the most of any tier. But by H1 2024, their share of visits increased to 31.2%. Upscale Hotels – the second-largest tier – also saw their visit share increase, from 24.8% to 26.1%.
Meanwhile, Economy, Midscale, and Upper Upscale Hotels saw drops in visit share – with Economy chains, unsurprisingly, seeing the biggest decline. Luxury Hotels, for their parts, held firmly onto their piece of the pie, drawing 2.8% of visits in H1 2024.
Who are the visitors fueling the Upper Midscale visit revival? This next section explores shifts in visitor demographics to four Upper Midscale chains that are outperforming pre-pandemic visit levels: Trademark Collection by Wyndham, Holiday Inn Express by IHG Hotels & Resorts, Fairfield by Marriott, and Hampton by Hilton.
Analyzing the captured markets* of the four chains with demographics from STI: Popstats (2023) shows variance in the relative affluence of their visitor bases.
Fairfield by Marriott drew visitors from areas with a median household income (HHI) of $84.0K in H1 2024, well above the nationwide average of $76.1K. Hampton by Hilton and Trademark Collection by Wyndham, for their parts, drew guests from areas with respective HHIs of $79.6K and $78.5K – just above the nationwide average. Meanwhile, Holiday Inn Express by IHG Hotels & Resorts drew visitors from areas below the nationwide average.
But all four brands saw increases in the median HHIs of their captured markets over the past five years. This provides a further indication that it is wealthier consumers – those who have had to cut back less in the face of inflation – who are driving hotel recovery in 2024.
(*A chain’s captured market is obtained by weighting each Census Block Group (CBG) in its trade area according to the CBG’s share of visits to the chain – and so reflects the population that actually visits the chain in practice.)
Much of the Upper Midscale visit growth is being driven by chain expansion. But in some areas of the country, the average number of visits to individual hotel locations is also on the rise – highlighting especially robust growth potential.
Analyzing visits to existing Upper Midscale chains in four metropolitan areas with booming tourism industries – Salt Lake City, UT, Palm Bay, FL, San Diego, CA, and Richmond, VA – shows that these markets feature robust untapped demand.
Utah, for example, has emerged as a tourist hotspot in recent years – with millions of visitors flocking each year to local destinations like Salt Lake City to see the sights and take in the great outdoors. And Upper Midscale hotels in the region are reaping the benefits. In H1 2024, the overall number of visits to Upper Midscale chains in Salt Lake City was 69.4% higher than in H1 2019. Though some of this increase can be attributed to local chain expansion, the average number of visits to each individual Upper Midscale location in the area also rose by 12.5% over the same period.
Palm Bay, FL (the Space Coast) – another tourist favorite – is experiencing a similar trend. Between H1 2019 and H1 2024, overall visits to local Upper Midscale hotel chains grew by 36.4% – while the average number of visits per location increased a substantial 16.9%. Given this strong demand, it may come as no surprise that the area is undergoing a hotel construction boom. Upper Midscale hotels in other areas with flourishing tourism sectors, like San Diego, CA and Richmond, VA, are seeing similar trends, with increases in both overall visits and and in the average number of visits per location.
Though Economy chains have underperformed versus other categories in recent years, the tier does feature some bright spots. Some extended-stay brands in the Economy tier – hotels with perks and amenities that cater to the needs of longer-stay travelers – are succeeding despite category headwinds.
Choice Hotels’ portfolio, for example, includes WoodSpring Suites, an Economy chain offering affordable extended-stay accommodations in 35 states. In H1 2024, the chain drew 7.7% more visits than in the first half of 2019 – even as the wider Economy sector continued to languish. InTown Suites, another Economy extended stay chain, saw visits increase by 8.9% over the same period.
And location intelligence shows that the success of these two chains is likely being driven, in part, by their growing appeal to young, well-educated professionals. In H1 2019, households belonging to Spatial.ai: PersonaLive’s “Young Professionals” segment made up 9.6% of WoodSpring Suites’ captured market. But by H1 2024, the share of this group jumped dramatically to 13.3%. At the same time, InTown Suites saw its share of Young Professionals increase from 12.0% to 13.4%.
Whether due to an affinity for prolonged “workcations” (so-called “bleisure” excursions) or an embrace of super-commuting, younger guests have emerged as key drivers of growth for the extended stay segment. And by offering low–cost accommodations that meet the needs of these travelers, Economy chains can continue to grow their share of the pie.
The hospitality industry recovery continues – led by Upper Midscale Hotels, which offer elevated experiences that don’t break the bank. But today’s market has room for other tiers as well. By keeping abreast of local visitation patterns and changing consumer profiles, hotels across chain scales can personalize the visitor experience and drive customer satisfaction.
The past few years have provided the tourism sector with a multitude of headwinds, from pandemic-induced lockdowns to persistent inflation and a rise in extreme weather events. But despite these challenges, people are more excited than ever to travel – more than half of respondents to a recent survey are planning on increasing their travel budgets in the coming months.
And while revenge travel to overseas destinations is still very much alive and well, the often high costs associated with traveling abroad are shaping the way people choose to travel. Domestic travel and tourism are seeing significant growth as more affordable alternatives.
This white paper takes a closer look at two of the most popular domestic tourism destinations in the country – New York City and Los Angeles. Over the past year, both cities have continued to be leading tourism hotspots, offering a wealth of attractions for visitors. What does tourism to these two cities look like in 2024, and what has changed since before the pandemic? How have inflation and rising airfare prices affected the demographics and psychographics of visitors to these major hubs?
Analyzing the distribution of domestic tourists across CBSAs nationwide from May 2023 to April 2024 reveals New York and Los Angeles to be two of the nation’s most popular destinations. (Tourists include overnight visitors staying in a given CBSA for up to 31 days).
The New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA metro area drew the largest share of domestic tourists of any CBSA during the analyzed period (2.7%), followed closely by the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA CBSA (2.5%). Other domestic tourism hotspots included Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL (tied for second place with 2.5% of visitors), Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (1.9%), Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV (1.8%), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL (1.8%), and Chicago-Naperville, Elgin, IL-IN-WI (1.6%).
The Big Apple. The City That Never Sleeps. Empire City. Whatever it’s called, New York City remains one of the most well-known tourist destinations in the world. And for many Americans, New York is the perfect place for an extended weekend getaway – or for a multi-day excursion to see the sights.
But where do these NYC-bound vacationers come from? Diving into the data on the origin of visitors making medium-length trips to New York City (three to seven nights) reveals that increasingly, these domestic tourists are coming from nearby metro areas.
Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, for example, the number of tourists visiting New York City from the Philadelphia metro area increased by 19.2%.
The number of tourists coming from the Boston and Washington, D.C metro areas, and from the New York CBSA itself (New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA) also increased over the same period.
Meanwhile, further-away CBSAs like San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA, and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL fed fewer tourists to NYC in 2023-2024 than they did pre-pandemic. It seems that residents of these more distant metro areas are opting for vacation destinations closer to home to avoid the high costs of air travel.
Diving even deeper into the characteristics of visitors taking medium-length trips to New York City reveals another demographic shift: Tourists staying between three and seven nights in the Big Apple are skewing younger.
Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, the share of visitors to New York City from areas with median ages under 30 grew from 2.1% to 4.5%. Meanwhile, the share of visitors from areas with median ages between 31 and 40 increased from 34.3% to 37.7%.
The impact of this trend is already being felt in the Big Apple, with The Broadway League reporting that the average age of audiences to its shows during the 2022- 2023 season was the youngest it had been in 20 seasons.
The shift towards younger tourists can also be seen when examining the psychographic makeup of visitors to popular attractions in New York City. Analyzing the captured markets of major NYC landmarks with data from Spatial.ai’s PersonaLive dataset reveals an increase in households belonging to the “Educated Urbanites” segment between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024.
These well-educated, young singles are increasingly visiting iconic NYC venues such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Museum of Natural History, and the Statue of Liberty. This shift highlights the growing popularity of these attractions among young, educated singles, reflecting a broader trend of increased domestic tourism among this demographic.
New York City’s tourism sector is adapting to meet the changing needs of travelers, fueled increasingly by younger visitors who may be unable to take a costly international vacation. How have travel patterns to Los Angeles changed in response to increasing travel costs?
While New York City is the East Coast’s tourism hotspot, Los Angeles takes center stage on the West Coast. And as overseas travel has become increasingly out of reach for Americans with less discretionary income, the share of domestic tourists originating from areas with lower HHIs has risen.
Before the pandemic, 57.6% of visitors to LA came from affluent areas with median household incomes (HHIs) of over $90K/year. But by 2023-2024, this share decreased to 50.7%. Over the same period, the share of visitors from areas with median HHIs between $41K and $60K increased from 9.7% to 12.5%, while the share of visitors from areas with HHIs between $61K and $90K rose from 32.1% to 35.8%.
Diving into the psychographic makeup of visitors to popular Los Angeles attractions – Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland California, the Santa Monica Pier, and Griffith Observatory – also reflects the above-mentioned shift in HHI. The captured markets of these attractions had higher shares of middle-income households belonging to the “Family Union” psychographic segment in 2023-2024 than in 2018-2019.
Experian: Mosaic defines this segment as “middle income, middle-aged families living in homes supported by solid blue-collar occupations.” Pre-pandemic, 16.0% of visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood came from trade areas with high shares of “Family Union” households. This number jumped to 18.8% over the past year. A similar trend occurred at Disneyland, Santa Monica Pier, and Griffith Observatory.
And like in New York City, growing numbers of visitors to Los Angeles appear to be coming from nearby areas. Between 2018-2019 and 2023-2024, the share of in-state visitors to major Los Angeles attractions increased substantially – as people likely sought to cut costs by keeping things local.
Pre-pandemic, for example, 68.9% of visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood came from within California – a share that increased to 72.0% over the past year. Similarly, 59.7% of Griffith Observatory visitors in 2018-2019 came from within the state – and by 2023-2024, that number grew to 64.7%.
Even when times are tight, people love to travel – and New York and Los Angeles are two of their favorite destinations. With prices for airfare, hotels, and dining out increasing across the board, younger and more price-conscious households are adapting, choosing to visit nearby cities and enjoy attractions closer to home. And as the tourism industry continues its recovery, understanding emerging visitation trends can help stakeholders meet travelers where they are.
The positive retail momentum observed in Q1 2024 continued into Q2 – as stabilizing prices and a strong job market fostered cautious optimism among consumers. Year-over-year (YoY) retail foot traffic remained elevated throughout the quarter, with June in particular seeing significant weekly visit boosts ranging from 4.7% to 8.5%.
The robustness of the retail sector in Q2 was also highlighted by positive visit growth during the quarter’s special calendar occasions, including Mother’s Day (the week of May 6th) and Memorial Day (the week of May 27th). And though consumer spending may moderate as the year wears on, retail’s strong Q2 showing offers plenty of room for optimism ahead of back-to-school sales and other summer milestones.
On a quarterly basis, overall retail visits rose 4.2% in Q2. And diving into specific categories shows that value continued to reign supreme, with discount and dollar stores seeing the most robust YoY visit growth (11.2%) of any analyzed category.
Other essential goods purveyors, such as grocery store chains (7.6%) and superstores (4.6%), also outperformed the overall retail baseline. And fitness – a category deemed essential by many health-conscious consumers – outpaced overall retail with a substantial 6.0% YoY foot traffic increase.
The decidedly more discretionary home improvement industry performed less well than overall retail in Q2 – but in another sign of consumer resilience, it too experienced a YoY visit uptick. And overall restaurant foot traffic increased 2.6% YoY.
Discount and dollar stores enjoyed a strong Q2 2024, maintaining YoY visit growth above 10.0% for six out of the quarter’s 13 weeks. Only during the week of April 1st did the category see a temporary decline, likely the result of an Easter calendar shift. (The week of April 1st 2024 is being compared to the week of April 3rd, 2023, which included the run-up to Easter)
Some of this growth can be attributed to the continued expansion of segment leaders like Dollar General. But the category has also been bolstered by the emphasis consumers continue to place on value in the face of still-high prices and economic uncertainty.
Dollar General, which has been expanding both its store count and its grocery offerings, saw YoY visits increase between 9.1% and 15.9% throughout the quarter. Affordable-indulgence-oriented Five Below, which has also been adding locations at a brisk clip, saw YoY visits increase between 4.9% and 18.8%.
And though Dollar Tree has taken steps to rightsize its Family Dollar brand, the company’s eponymous banner – which caters to middle-income consumers in suburban areas – continued to grow both its store count and its visits in Q2.
Grocery store chains also performed well in Q2 2024 – experiencing strongly positive foot traffic growth throughout the quarter. Though the sector continues to face its share of challenges, stabilizing food-at-home prices and improvements in employee retention and supply chain management have helped propel the industry forward.
Diving into the performance of specific chains shows that within the grocery segment, too, price was paramount in Q2 2024 – with limited-assortment value grocery stores like Aldi and Trader Joe’s leading the way.
Traditional chains H-E-B and Food Lion (owned by Ahold Delhaize) – both of which are known for relatively low prices – outperformed the wider grocery sector with respective YoY foot traffic boosts of 11.4% and 8.7%. But ShopRite, Safeway (owned by Albertsons), Kroger, and Albertsons also drew more visits in Q2 2024 than in the equivalent period of last year.
Fitness has proven to be relatively inflation-proof in recent years – thriving even in the face of reduced discretionary spending and consumer cutbacks. Indeed, rising prices may have actually helped boost gym attendance, as people sought to squeeze the most value out of their monthly fees and replace pricy outings with already-paid-for gym excursions.
And despite lapping a remarkably strong 2023, visits to gyms nationwide remained elevated YoY in Q2 2024.
Diving into the data for some of the nation’s leading gyms shows that today’s fitness market has plenty of room at the top. Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, Life Time Fitness, Orangetheory Fitness, and LA Fitness all experienced YoY visit growth in Q2 2024 – reflecting consumers’ enduring interest in all things wellness-related.
But it was EōS Fitness and Crunch Fitness – two value gyms that have been pursuing aggressive expansion strategies – that really hit it out of the park, with respective YoY foot traffic increases of 23.4% and 21.4%.
The week of April 1st saw a decline in YoY visits to superstores – likely attributable to the Easter calendar shift noted above. But the category quickly rallied, and with back-to-school shopping and major superstore sales events coming up this July, the category appears poised to enjoy continued success throughout the summer.
Within the superstore category, wholesale clubs continued to stand out – with Costco Wholesale, Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club enjoying YoY foot traffic growth ranging from 12.0% to 7.4%. But Target and Walmart also impressed with 4.6% and 4.0% YoY visit increases.
Inflation, elevated interest rates, and a sluggish real estate market have created a perfect storm for the home improvement industry, with spending on renovations in decline. The accelerated return to office has likely also taken its toll on the category, as people spend more time outside the home and have less availability to immerse themselves in DIY projects.
But despite these challenges, weekly YoY foot traffic to home improvement and furnishing chains remained elevated throughout much of the Q2 – with June and April seeing mostly positive YoY visit growth, and May hovering just below 2023 levels. This (modest) visit growth may be driven by consumers loading up on supplies for necessary home repairs, or by shoppers seeking materials for smaller projects. And given the importance of Q2 for the home improvement sector, this largely positive snapshot may offer some promise of good things to come.
Some chains within the home improvement category continued to perform especially well in Q2 2024 – with rapidly expanding, budget-oriented Harbor Freight Tools leading the pack. But Ace Hardware, Menards, The Home Depot, and Lowe’s also saw foot traffic increases in Q2, showcasing the category’s resilience in the face of headwinds.
Restaurants – including full-service restaurants (FSR), quick-service restaurants (QSR), fast-casual chains, and coffee chains – lagged behind grocery stores and other essential goods retailers in Q2 2024, as price-sensitive consumers prioritized needs over wants and ate at home more often.
Still, YoY restaurant foot traffic remained up throughout most of the quarter. And impressively, the sector saw a YoY visit uptick during the week of Mother’s Day (the week of May 6th, 2024, compared to the week of May 8th, 2023) – an important milestone for FSR.
The restaurant industry’s YoY visit growth was felt across segments – though fast-casual and coffee chains experienced the biggest visit boosts. Like in Q1 2024, fast-casual restaurants hit the sweet spot between indulgence and affordability, outpacing QSR in the wake of fast food price hikes. And building on the positive YoY trendline that began to emerge last quarter, full-service restaurants finished Q2 2024 with a 1.4% YoY visit uptick.
Chain expansion was the name of the restaurant game in Q2 2024, with several chains that have been growing their footprints outperforming segment averages – including CAVA, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Ziggi’s Coffee, California-based Philz Coffee, Raising Cane’s, Whataburger, and First Watch. Chili’s Grill and Bar also outpaced the full-service category average, aided by the revamping of its “3 for Me” menu.
Retailers and restaurants in Q2 2024 continued to face plenty of challenges, from inflation to rising labor costs and volatile consumer confidence. But foot traffic trends across industries – including both essential goods purveyors like grocery stores and more discretionary categories like home improvement and restaurants – suggest plenty of room for cautious optimism as 2024 wears on.
