The Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) released its Summer 2006 Forecast report, projecting that Americans will take 325.6 million leisure trips of 50 or more miles away from home during the months of June, July and August 2006, up less than one percent over last summer. TIA notes that consumers continue to be concerned about rising gas costs, hotel room rates and airline fares. Gas prices, in particular, are causing consumers to reconsider their vacation plans. Gasoline prices of $3.00 per gallon could be the “tipping point”— the point at which 10 percent of travelers say they would seriously consider canceling a trip. Between $3.00 and $3.24 per gallon, an additional 26 percent would seriously consider canceling a trip.
Other Highlights of the study:
• The number of nights away from home is expected to decline to 6.0 nights on travelers’ longest
summer trip (compared to 7.0 nights last summer).
• Travelers plan to spend an average of $1,033 on their longest pleasure trip this summer,
essentially unchanged from last summer ($1,019).
• Forty percent (40%) of travelers plan to take children or grandchildren on their longest trip this
summer.
• Top activities this summer include: visiting friends and relatives (55%), going to a beach or lake
(38%), visiting small towns or rural areas (27%), visiting cities/urban areas (21%), visiting national
or state parks (20%) and visiting historic sites (20%).
• International travel to the U.S. will continue to rise as the value of the U.S. dollar continues to
decline, making it more affordable for international travelers to come to the U.S., and as airlines
more vigorously pursue international markets and add capacity.
Click here to view the Summer 2006 U.S. leisure travel forecast chart
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