The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 4.7 billion people to travel in 2024, breaking pre-pandemic records. And as more people book trips, consumers will likely be paying less than they did in 2023, according to Hopper Consumer Travel Expert Lindsay Schwimer.

Schwimer told Yahoo Finance Live that consumers will pay less for both domestic and international flights.

"If you are booking a trip both domestically and internationally, you're going to see some relief when you're booking those tickets," Schwimer said.

Schwimer added Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean are among the most popular destinations for U.S. travelers this year, along with Paris and Tokyo.

Click here to watch the full interview on the Yahoo Finance YouTube page or you can watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live here.

Video Transcript

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SEANA SMITH: Travel was strong this holiday season with the TSA screening more than 2.6 million passengers before Christmas alone. And airlines, well, it looks like they were able to keep up with the crowds, 2023 marking the lowest flight cancelation rate that we've seen in 5 years. We want to bring in Lindsay Schwimer, Hopper's Consumer Travel expert.

Lindsay, it's good to have you here. So it looks like airlines were able to keep up and keep up pace with the crowds that they saw over the holidays and really throughout 2023. So how does that set us up in terms of travel demand for 2024?

LINDSAY SCHWIMER: We just came out of one of the busiest travel holiday seasons we've seen to date. So if that's any indicator of what we expect in 2024, we're expecting strong demand and Americans continuing to be eager to get back out there and take those trips in the new year.

MADISON MILLS: Lindsay, what does that demand look like? Where are you expecting to see consumer spending money to travel most? Are you thinking domestic, or are you thinking international?

LINDSAY SCHWIMER: We continue to see strong demand, both domestically and internationally. Warm destinations like Florida and Mexico, the Caribbean are really topping the list for 2024, as well as those bigger bucket list international trips. So places across Europe, Asia are really popular, Tokyo, Paris for the 2024 Olympics. So we're really seeing trips across both domestic and international for 2024.

SEANA SMITH: Lindsay, how much are consumers paying? Are we going to see more relief? And if we are, then how much relief could consumers see relative to the prices that they paid last year?

LINDSAY SCHWIMER: So good news for travelers we're not going to be paying as much as we paid this time last year for trips. Airfare prices the first six months of the year are projected to be lower than what we saw in 2023. So if you are booking a trip, both domestically and internationally, you're going to see some relief when you're booking those tickets.

MADISON MILLS: All right. Well, I love to hear that Lindsay, but I know that one thing that's been challenging for a lot of the airlines that we cover here has been the lack of return of business travel because business travelers typically are booking some of those more expensive fares as you know. What can you tell us about what business travel is expected to look like for 2024?

LINDSAY SCHWIMER: We're continuing to see business travel make a comeback as we head into the new year. So expect to see big cities like New York City, big Metro area starting to see more demand on the business travel front, as well as internationally.

SEANA SMITH: Lindsay, when it comes to some of the headwinds that consumers should be aware of or deal traps that maybe they could encounter over the next 12 months, what's your advice?

LINDSAY SCHWIMER: I'd say always book with flexibility if you can avoid delays and cancelations. While delay and cancelation rates, as you mentioned earlier are the lowest that we've seen since pre-pandemic, airlines will still be working to build capacity and maintain those low levels heading into the new year.

We always recommend travelers add trip protection, we have something on Hopper and other providers called flight disruption assistance, that way you protect your trip, add peace of mind when you're booking those 2024 plans.