Tripology, a leading online travel referral service and now part of Rand McNally, released findings from its newly published Third Quarter Travel Trend Report, indicating a positive outlook for travel this upcoming winter season.
Among the key findings are the average budget per trip increased by nearly 20 percent from first quarter 2010. The new average consumer trip budget starts at $5,663 per trip – Tripology’s highest trip budget since January 2009. Also, Tripology reports that the number of days until departure (the amount of time between quote request and beginning of trip) increased to 130 days.
Other findings for the 2010 Holiday travel forecast include:
The Top Five Most Requested U.S. Cities: Las Vegas, Orlando, Honolulu, New York City and Fort Lauderdale
The Top Five Most Requested Travel Destinations: United States, Caribbean, Asia, Western Europe and Mexico.
“Overall our third quarter trend report reveals a very positive holiday and post-holiday travel outlook, based on the continued rise of consumer trip budgets compared to last year as well as the increase in advanced planning for trips,” said John T. Peters, vice president and general manager of digital strategy and travel of Rand McNally. “Not only are consumers beginning to plan and book their vacations and post-holiday travel arrangements further out than they have in the past few years, but they are also willing to spend more money for a quality vacation experience -- taking more time to plan a memorable trip, rather than waiting for last minute travel deals and slashed rates as was the big trend last year.”
The Tripology Trend Report also revealed that a significant positive trend continues at Tripology.com for online consumers looking to be connected with offline travel specialists, even through the recession.
Las Vegas continues to be a top requested city for many looking for a travel specialist.
The top requested countries since January 2010 have been: U.S., Mexico, Bahamas, Italy, Jamaica, UK, France and Spain.
Roughly 75 percent of traveler’s requests are for trips with a duration of fewer than eight days.
The Tripology Trend Report is sponsored by the Association of Travel Marketing Executives, and is published quarterly by Tripology, a service of Rand McNally.
Visit www.tripology.com/agent.