Survey says: leisure travel moving in the right direction
Peter C. YesawichThe news couldn't be better for travel-related business entities. The 2005 National Leisure Travel Monitor shows the percentage of adults who reported taking at least one overnight trip primarily for leisure purposes rose to 56 percent from 49 percent in 2004.
The impact of this shift is beginning to manifest itself in a flurry of recent press reports from all corners of the travel industry, and the numbers are headed north. Specifically, there are more people flying, cruising and driving to vacations than we have seen since the heady days of 2000, and even more checking into hotels and resorts when they arrive.
For the first time in many years, we have begun to see a slight shift in the pattern of vacations: Weekend getaways (less than five nights and including a Saturday night stay) remain the most popular form of vacationing, representing 56 percent of all vacations taken by American adults last year, although it dropped from 59 percent in 2003.
Midweek vacations (four nights or less midweek) still represent only one out of every five vacations. But extended vacations (more than five contiguous nights) now represent 25 percent of all vacations, up from 19 percent last year. This shift most likely is due to two converging forces: the continued aging of the population (matures have a significantly higher tendency to take longer vacations), and the general improvement in the economy.
We also have observed continued growth in the incidence of family travel (adults with children): 37 percent of active travelers took at least one vacation with children last year, up from 33 percent the previous year. Among the four of 10 active leisure travelers who are grandparents, 35 percent took at least one vacation with their grandchildren last year.
One of the most significant findings of the report, however, is that a growing number of consumers view the Internet as a tool that enables them to access and verify the most favorable fares and rates. Specifically, 70 percent of active leisure travelers regularly use the Internet to check fares and rates, check availabilities (65 percent), decide where to stay (62 percent), find places to go (60 percent) and read visitor critiques and/or reviews online (39 percent). And nearly two-thirds (63 percent) now use the Internet to check hotel rates before calling to make a reservation. Seventy-seven percent of active leisure travelers express a preference for Web sites like Expedia and Travelocity that feature multiple brands. Only 23 percent profess a preference for sites that feature individual brands. Cleary, consumers have a different view of the "transparency" of rates that is not necessarily consistent with the view embraced by most suppliers.
hmm@advanstar.com
Peter Yesawich is president and c.e.o. of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell.
Top 5 attributes that influence leisure travelers' hotel and resort selection--2005 Extremely/very influential: Value for the price 85% Location 84% Room rate 81% Reputation of hotel chain 75% Previous experience with the hotel chain 72% Source: Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell
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