US unleashes pent-up demand

Earnings call season has revealed American’s pent up demand for travel and events.

Why it matters

Customers looking at the premium segment of the market are back, spending and travelling as if making up for lost time, but question marks remain: how will inflation affect the trend as the dollar in consumers’ pocket buys them less than before?  

The details

• Disney, which aside from its vast content business runs wildly successful theme parks is seeing attendance approach that of 2019, hbut those who do come are spending up to 40% more per person than pre-pandemic.
• Aramark, an operator of major events venues is anticipating “pent-up demand” for baseball ahead of the season, having seen a strong return of NFL matches.
• Airbnb, meanwhile, is seeing bookings up 25% for the coming summer season versus 2019.

Analysis

American consumers’ sentiment is at a low ebb driven by high inflation, and yet like many nations around the world, the pandemic showed that low confidence doesn’t necessarily stop people from spending.

Sourced from WSJ, Trading Economics