National News

TIA: Price not always king in leisure travel decisions

A new study from the Travel Industry Association (TIA) shows that leisure travelers decide where they want to go and for how long before they even consider the price tag. The study, "Leisure Travel Planning and How Consumers Make Travel Decisions," was based on responses of more than 5,000 consumers who had taken at least one overnight trip in the past year. It found that leisure travelers tend to make the key decisions of destination and trip duration before deciding on a trip budget. "Travelers continue to shop mercilessly for the lowest prices after they've made these two decisions," said Suzanne Cook, TIA's senior vice president of research.
Source: Travel Advance

Survey shows there's more to beaches and theme parks

Americans who include beaches or theme and amusement parks on their vacations are a lucrative market. These travelers tend to take longer vacations and spend more money per trip than overall travelers, according to data from the Travel Industry Association of America's TravelScope® survey. They are also more likely than average to bring their kids along, fly to their destination and rent a car once they arrive.

More than 105 million person-trips were made by U.S. households to the beach last year. A person-trip is one person traveling 50+ miles, one-way, away from home. These beach-going households spent significantly more money on these trips compared to the average U.S. trip ($854 vs. $433). More than one-third (36%) of beach trips last seven nights or more. The average beach trip lasts 6.2 nights, compared to 4.1 nights overall.

Americans made 79 million person-trips to theme and amusement parks last year. Theme park travelers spent an average of $839 per trip, excluding transportation to their destination, compared to just $433 on the average U.S. trip. They also included longer overnight stays (5.4 nights) compared to the average U.S. trip (4.1 nights).

Visiting a beach or a theme and amusement park is definitely a family affair. Four in ten (41%) of U.S. households that visit a beach include children under 18 on the trip. It's even higher for those households visiting theme or amusement parks, with 59 percent bringing along children. By comparison, just over one-quarter (26%) of overall traveling households include children on their trips.

Both beach travelers (20%) and theme and amusement park travelers (21%) are more likely than average (16%) to fly to their destination and to rent a car upon arrival (6% vs. 3%).
Source: Travel Advance

Millennium Park MP3 audio tour available

Chicago's Millennium Park is the nation's first cultural destination to offer a free MP3 audio tour for download on the Web. Internet users can now listen to the audio tour on their computers or visit the park with their own MP3 players. Visitors to the park can also rent an MP3 player with the audio tour in the Chicago Shop at Millennium Park. On the Web, the audio tour is available at www.millenniumpark.org. The audio tour was created in collaboration with the Chicago Office of Tourism, which provides visitor services from a welcome center in the park.
Source: Travel Advance

States, cities post double-digit growth in overseas visits

The Commerce Department says 32 cities and 22 states and territories posted double-digit growth in international visitation in 2004. Among the top 20 cities visited, New York City, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Chicago posted the strongest growth last year. Virginia, New York, Arizona and Utah posted the largest growth among the top 20 states. "The 13 percent growth in arrivals to the U.S. for 2004 represents the best single-year growth in overseas arrivals to the country since 1995," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Services Doug Baker. New York surpassed Florida as the top state/territory visited by overseas travelers in 2004. California was the third-most popular destination.
Source: Travel Advance