The forecast is looking bright for Labor Day Travel, with AAA projecting the highest volume since 2008. Elsewhere in the travel industry, travel agent air ticket sales remained strong, and signs pointed to booming interest in Latin America. Here's the latest.
AAA Predicts Increase in Labor Day Travel
AAA Travel is projecting 34.7 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day holiday weekend, the highest volume for the holiday since 2008 and a 1.3 percent increase over 2013. Consumer spending is continuing to rise in spite of stagnant income growth, AAA says.
Nearly 86 percent of travelers (29.7 million) will celebrate the holiday with a final road trip before summer comes to a close and children head back to school. The Labor Day holiday travel period is defined as Thursday, August 28 to Monday, September 1, AAA notes.
2014 Air Ticket Sales Ahead of 2013
ARC reports the consolidated dollar value of airline tickets sold by U.S.-based travel agencies rose 5.15 percent year-over-year in the first seven months of 2014 compared to the same period last year, totaling $56 billion versus $53.3 billion in 2013. Sales for July 2014 were up 5.2 percent at $7.5 billion compared to July 2013 at $7.2 billion, ARC said.
Ticket transactions through July 2014 increased 2.65 percent over the same period in 2013 to 89.8 million. Year-to-date passenger segments increased 2.82 percent to 221.6 million, compared to 215.3 million in 2013, ARC reports.
Mexican, Latin American Cities Are Becoming More Popular With U.S. Travelers
Hotels.com has identified the most popular destinations for travelers in the first half of 2014 with insights from the Hotel Price Index (HPI).
By examining the top international destinations for U.S. travelers, and the top U.S. destinations for foreign visitors, the HPI is also able to forecast popular destinations for the rest of the year and beyond.
For U.S. travelers, Latin America and Mexico are trending on the 50 Most Popular International Cities for Americans list and is likely to continue its heightened popularity through the rest of the year and into 2015. Many Latin American and Mexican cities are experiencing considerable developments in their hospitality sectors.
The Price of Travel Around the World
GoEuro has revealed its Worldwide Transportation Price Index which is based on the train, bus and flight information across five continents.
Taking into account factors such as distance, scheduling and taxes, GoEuro compared the cheapest bus, train and flight connections between the two most populous cities in each of the countries, among other routes, and analyzed the data in the Price Index. Countries were then rated according to average price per 100km for each transportation type.
Americans Only Spend an Hour a Day Relaxing
In honor of the recent National Relaxation Day, Princess Cruises has released its fifth annual Relaxation Report breaking down the relaxation habits among U.S. travelers.
Despite that an overwhelming 99 percent of Americans agree that relaxation is essential for their overall health and well-being, on average Americans spend only an hour a day dedicated to unwinding.
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