US luggage, swimwear sales make strong progress as travel plans resume

By

Robin Driver

Published
May 19, 2021

According to a study from The NPD Group, U.S. luggage and swimwear sales have shown strong signs of recovery over the last two months, following a dismal year for travel fashion and accessories due to Covid-19-related restrictions.

 
As reported by NPD, in March and April, luggage sales rose to 80% of their levels in the same period in 2019, prior to the devastating impact of the coronavirus crisis.
 
“While luggage sales in the U.S. have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the market is moving in the right direction,” explained Beth Goldstein, NPD analyst for the accessories and footwear industry, in a comment cited by WWD. “There is a lot of pent-up demand driving consumer travel aspirations, so travel accessories that are both functional and innovative will be the hot ticket items, as people prepare for upcoming trips.”

Swimwear sales have also made significant progress since December of last year. In March 2021, sales in the category grew 185% compared to the same month in 2020, and even increased 32% compared to March 2019.
 
Improvements in the sales of luggage and swimwear reflect a wider increase in consumer interest in travel following the easing of pandemic-related travel restrictions. According to an NPD consumer survey conducted in May, around a third of U.S. consumers expect to return to their pre-pandemic travel behavior for both leisure and business purposes within the next three months. Furthermore, a quarter of survey respondents said that they expected to resume their usual travel behavior within four to six months.
 
The travel accessories market lost $1.8 billion in 2020 due to restrictions implemented to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.