You may be thinking you've heard this before, and you'd be right. Last summer, a newly vaccinated America fresh off its last stimulus and an economic reopening began packing its bags. Americans booked plane tickets and hotel rooms, sending travel and leisure spending up before slowing down every time a new variant swept through.

Now that the latest pandemic wave is waning, travelers are optimistic yet again. Hospitality and travel professionals said they've seen an upswing in demand as Americans plan spring and summer getaways, reported The Washington Post's Abba Bhattarai. She called it "revenge travel," in which Americans are taking advantage of a pandemic lull in the event another variant emerges. But the travel industry may be ill-prepared for the influx of travelers thanks to a mass labor shortage.

While economists are unsure about the extent of this spending boom, it's different than last year's in that it comes during 40-year-high inflation and won't be propelled by government stimulus checks.

"I do expect things to bounce back, but in a broader context, spending has already been very strong," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told The Post. "Omicron dented the economy but did less damage than previous waves."

Making up for lost time

Brandon Berkson, founder of the New York-based travel company Hotels Above Par, told CNBC last month that travel will be even busier than pre-pandemic times thanks to consumers who have a stronger desire to travel than ever before. "People want to make up for lost time," he said.

Monthly consumer spending on hotels and motels, air travel, and amusement parks and campgrounds is the highest it's been since the coronavirus recession, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Travelers are also willing to drop more than usual after another pandemic winter, Bhattarai reported, with couples tripling or quadrupling what would have been a $25,000 budget before the pandemic.