Consumers Want To Travel, New Survey Shows

 

Travel Leaders' first nationwide survey of travelers in the United States revealed that nearly 84 percent of those polled indicated they had already taken at least one leisure trip in 2009 and over 88 percent indicated they plan on taking at least one leisure trip between now and the end of the year.

“In this country, vacations are considered a right and the results of this survey help bolster that notion. Consumers will not give up traveling for their vacations,” stated Roger E. Block, president of Travel Leaders Franchise Group. “An overwhelming majority indicated they’ve traveled at least once this year and even more are planning trips for next year. Given the economy, we are tremendously encouraged by these findings. Our nationwide network of Travel Leaders is continually ready to provide professional travel consultation and an extraordinary level of expertise and care as even more consumers return to traveling.”

This online survey was conducted throughout August 2009 and includes responses from 625 consumers across the United States. While Travel Leaders has a long history of providing detailed travel trends based on bookings and data gathered from hundreds of its travel experts from across the country, this marks the first-ever consumer travel survey it has conducted.

Key Statistics and Findings

*    Nearly 84 percent (83.8 percent) of survey respondents have taken (at least) one leisure trip in 2009.

*    The average spending on leisure trips in 2009 was the same or more for nearly 75 percent of respondents.

*    As to where consumers are going on their leisure trips – 65 percent indicated their trip(s) were within the United States and further than a bordering state.

*    An overwhelming majority (88 percent) of survey participants indicated they will take (at least) one leisure trip in the remaining months of 2009.

*    Planning for 2010 leisure trips has already begun for 88.6 percent of survey participants.

*    The key reason for taking a leisure trip in 2009 was “rest and relaxation” – cited by 70.5 percent of participants. Second was “I/we take one every year” (53.8 percent) and third was “I/we needed to get away” (48.9 percent). It is also interesting to note that “couldn’t pass up the deals/discounts” only ranked 7th in this category with 23.3 percent.

Visit www.TravelLeaders.com.