A majority of 12 to 18-year-old travelers in the United States take at least one significant group trip each year without parents, spending almost $10 billion a year. The results are from a recent survey by the…
A majority of 12 to 18-year-old travelers in the United States take at least one significant group trip each year without parents, spending almost $10 billion a year. The results are from a recent survey by the Student and Youth Travel Research Institute (SYTR-I) at Michigan State University, which conducts research on student and youth travel in North America. This vast market represents a significant niche within the overall U.S. travel industry, with an economic impact that is still largely unexplored and unappreciated, says the survey.
According to the survey, more than 60% of respondents indicated that the 12 to 18-year-olds in their households had taken an overnight group trip in 2005, spending an average of $417. Those who purchased a tour package (44%) spent on average $495 ($427 on the package and $68 on incidentals); those who didn’t (56%) spent an average of $355. Extrapolated to the total population of 30 million 12 to 18-year-olds (based on U.S. Census Bureau data), the results indicate that these school age travelers took approximately 25 million trips without their parents in 2005 and spent $9.8 billion. The data illustrate that this often-overlooked segment of youth travel is significant in both its scale and economic importance.
“While there are many studies detailing travel among youth, this is the first one to actually attempt to capture economic impact and destination data about U.S. travelers in the 12 to 18 years of age submarket,” observed Don Holecek, Director of the Student and Youth Travel Research Institute at MSU.
In the course of launching its survey, SYTR-I worked with traditional mailings and online questionnaires. In the end, it found that a combination of the two, supported by telephone follow-up, yielded the best results.
“The preliminary SYTR-I survey offers a strong sense of the market and indicates that more extensive, ongoing studies are needed to track domestic travel among middle-grade students,” said Michael Palmer, executive director of the Student and Youth Travel Association. “It is a groundbreaking survey that provides us, for the first time, with an opportunity to begin the process of identifying this important market; otherwise, it will continue to be significantly underserved.”
Palmer noted that among its findings, the study seems to imply that a relationship exists between student travel and academic performance, with 80% of young travelers attending public schools with a “B” or better grade point average, although additional research is clearly needed on this subject.
“Travel plays an important role in education,” he said. “Both government and the educational community need to understand the factors that impact travel and ensure that funding is properly distributed so that students from lower income backgrounds also reap the benefits of travel.”
Other results of the survey:
- More than half of the trips (52.1%) are school-related, involving education, organized sports, the arts, and spiritual/religious excursions
- Spring is the most popular season (43.7%) for trips, and June is the most popular month (18.2%)
- California is the most popular state destination for trips, capturing 8.4% of the total market and nearly $825 million in traveler spending, followed by Washington, D.C., and New York
- Washington, D.C., is the most popular city destination, capturing 7.8% of the total market and $764 million in traveler spending, followed by New York and Chicago
- Almost all states and 185 cities were reported as the primary destination for trips
SYTR-I was established in 2005 at Michigan State University to stimulate research and enhance knowledge about young people traveling independently or in non-family groups, such as school trips. The Institute is funded in part by grants from the Student and Youth Tourism Research Consortium, a group made up of the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA), the National Tour Association (NTA), the American Bus Association (ABA) and several tour operator and tour supplier companies.
The results were based on a preliminary survey of more than 300 U.S. households with children between the ages of 12 to and cover the year 2005.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
