The average American travels 2.9 times/year, defined as an overnight trip >100 miles from home. The average European travels 4.9 times a year by this definition. So yes, a huge gap - add to this that the majority of trips Americans take are to visit family rather that to visit somewhere new. The early stage travel startup scene in Europe is much more vibrant than the US, but fewer of them get funding because European VC is so cautious and travel is universally acknowledged to be a tricky industry. I guess this means there should be more American startups that target European travel markets...
I read the comment as one or two major vacations that require all sorts of complicated planning that isn't well-served by current sites. Depending on values of "average," I suppose that might be true. If you're driving to a beach cottage you rented for a couple weeks every summer, you don't really need a fancy app for that. I travel a lot and even I have maybe one or two trips a year tops that aren't pretty straightforward.
I think it's also false for the U.S., but the "major vacation" is for most people not a skiing junket to the Alps, or even a week at Disney World, but a few days at a nearby KOA, or long weekend at the hunting camp, or at a regional amusement park. There's still a middle class in this country, and it still takes vacations. It just doesn't leave its home state very often.
That's definitely true. Probably a few more times than that actually, since it's pretty common for people to take a weekend off in a nearby country (like say, France if you're in the UK).
Question is, is it enough to support a business model? Popular services tend to ones where the user's return on a regular basis, not where they check in every now and then if they even remember it exists.
What "degree" of trips? People in the US make lots of trips within their state or to a neighboring state- maybe five hours in the car, or a 90-minute plane ride. But 18-hour trans-oceanic plane rides do not happen every summer.
In New Zealand most people leave the country once every 2-4 years (Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Bali, Pacific Islands being most common) for an extended holiday.
That might be true for the US, but it is def. more common in Europe, where people go on trips every summer.