Despite recent declines in the consumerconfidence index, a new Maritz Poll reports good news for…
Despite recent declines in the consumerconfidence index, a new Maritz Poll reports good news for industries associated with holiday travel. The new poll shows that Americans planning to travel over the holidays are going to spend at least 25 percent more than they did last year.
According to the poll, the median amount travelers plan to spend this year on travel for one of the winter holidays, including Christmas, is $500 compared to only $400 in 2003. The number of Americans who actually plan to travel is one-in-four (25 percent), which is consistent with a similar Maritz Poll conducted last year.
The data findings indicate that travelers are spending more money in a variety of ways, specifically, 39 percent intend to travel by air over at least one of the holidays, compared to only 29 percent in 2003. The amount travelers plan to spend on alternative lodging is an average of $126 per night, which is higher than the 2003 average of $96 per night.
According to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), the October 2004 Travel Price Index (TPI), which measures the seasonally unadjusted inflation rate of the cost of travel away from home (air, hotel and gas) in the United States, is only up 5.4 percent from October 2003.
Rick Garlick, Ph.D., director of strategic consulting for Maritz Research Hospitality Group, noted, While there is a minor increase in the cost of holiday travel this year, due to rising gas prices and hotel rates, the larger reason for the increase in spending has to do with people having more
discretionary money to allocate toward travel. We can see the proof for this in our Maritz Poll, as more people say they will be flying rather than driving, and staying at better hotels.
The Maritz Poll data indicates that travelers are spending more money across the board for at least one of the winter holidays:
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.  06/05/2024
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