In the midst of the peak summer travel season, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) reports that travel spending continues its upward trend. Orlando, Las Vegas and New York City…
In the midst of the peak summer travel season, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) reports that travel spending continues its upward trend. Orlando, Las Vegas and New York City have kept the top spots for domestic destinations that they have held for the past four years, and London tops the international list.
Even though the survey was done before the terrorist bombings in London, we expect bookings there to remain high, said Kathryn W. Sudeikis, CTC, ASTA president and CEO. Very few of our agents have had customers cancel trips there.
Travel bookings continued the trend of the last few years of a gradual increase. While only 9.9 percent of responding agents reported that spending has decreased, a strong 49.9 percent report that average spending on travel is higher. 40.3 percent said that travel spending remains the same.
With 22.2 percent of agents citing it as a hot spot, ASTA-member travel agents reported that they are booking Orlando more than any other destination, which has been the case for the last four years. Las Vegas once again took the second spot with 19.4 percent of the votes. New York City also stayed in the top three, posting a 9.8 percent rating. Miami and San Diego also appeared in the top 10 for the fourth year in a row, with 3 percent and 2.4 percent. Washington, D.C., and Seattle made the top 10 list for the first time with 1.7 and 1.6 percent of the votes.
Once again, Americans have booked travel to places where the city itself is part of the attraction, including Orlando, Las Vegas and New York City, said Sudeikis. They are returning to the domestic cities that they know and love.
Domestic Destination
- Orlando: Frequency 240, 22.2% of total resp.
- Las Vegas: Frequency 210, 19.4% of total resp.
- New York City: Frequency 106, 9.8% of total resp.
- San Francisco: Frequency 58, 5.4% of total resp.
- Honolulu: Frequency 49, 4.5% of total resp.
- Los Angeles: Frequency 48, 4.4% of total resp.
- Miami: Frequency 33, 3.0% of total resp.
- San Diego: Frequency 26, 2.4% of total resp.
- Washington, DC: Frequency 18, 1.7% of total resp.
- Seattle: Frequency 17, 1.6% of total resp.
Total number of responses = 1083
Popular International City Destinations
Respondents were asked to name which international cities they were booking for the 2005 summer travel season. London was a strong winner this year with 17.4 percent of the votes, followed by Rome (14.2%), Cancun (11.3%) and ParisFrankfurt, Florence and Amsterdam joining London, Rome and Paris in the top 10. And, warmer destinations such as Cancun, Jamaica and Punta Cana are also popular this summer.
London, Paris, and Rome are truly great travel destinations that are timeless in their appeal, said Sudeikis. Americans know that those cities are always great spots to do some summer sightseeing.
Destination
- London Frequency 188, 17.4 % of total resp.
- Rome Frequency 154, 14.2 % of total resp.
- Cancun Frequency 122, 11.3 % of total resp.
- Paris Frequency 111, 10.2 % of total resp.
- Jamaica Frequency 48, 4.04 % of total resp.
- Punta Cana Frequency 32, 3.0 % of total resp.
- Florence Frequency 21, 2.0 % of total resp.
- Frankfurt Frequency 18, 1.7 % of total resp.
- Bahamas Frequency 18, 1.7 % of total resp.
- Dublin Frequency 13, 1.2 % of total resp.
- Amsterdam Frequency 13, 1.2 % of total resp.
Total number of responses = 1083
Considering regions and countries, Italy surpassed Mexico in 2005 with 20.3 percent. Capturing 19 percent, Mexico remained popular, while the United Kingdom took a close third with 18.8 percent. France and the Caribbean trailed with 10.5 and 9.6 percent of the votes, respectively.
Country
- Italy: 20.3 % of Total
- Mexico: 19.0 % of Total
- UK: 18.8 % of Total
- France: 10.5 % of Total
- Caribbean: 9.6 % of Total
The 2005 summer hot spots survey was performed in April of 2005, with 391 agents in the ASTA research family responding.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
