A new study by D.K. Shifflet & Associates finds that approximately 60% of recent travelers intend to travel for either business or leisure at the same or greater rates than they did in 2009. More importantly, almost two-thirds of these travelers plan to spend the same or more than they did in the first half of last year.

The study, conducted among over 2,200 recent travelers, revealed that 25% more business trips and 20% more Leisure trips are planned in the first half of 2010. Not only are travelers planning to take more trips, similar proportions plan to spend more money on those trips. Only 14% of Business and 16% of Leisure travelers plan to spend less in the first half of 2010 than they did last year. "This is encouraging and may be a reflection of pent up demand" said Cheryl Schutz, DKSA Vice President of Destinations.

Interestingly, travelers under the age of 35 plan to take the most Leisure trips in the next six months, but are most likely to spend less than they did last year. Among all recent travelers, those with household incomes under US$75,000 plan to take slightly more trips (2.9) than those with higher incomes (2.6).

The results of this study are based on a D.K. Shifflet & Associates national online survey of 2,242 respondents who had traveled in the past three months, conducted in January, 2010. Respondents were asked about their planned Business and Leisure travel, as well as spending plans for the period of January through June, 2010. Respondents were also asked to compare their future travel plans against the actual number of trips taken during the same period in 2009.