WASHINGTON, D.C. While the slowing economy and rising gas prices are making headlines, only a small amount of U.S. adult travelers are planning to cut back on travel this summer because of them, according to a special Travel Poll recently conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).
According to the report, 7% of all travelers, representing 10.3 million people, plan to travel less or not at all this summer specifically because of their concerns about the U.S. economy. The report also noted that 14% of all travelers, representing 19.2 million people, claim they will travel less or not at all this summer because of rising fuel prices. Only about 5% of all travelers, however, mentioned fuel prices as a reason to reduce travel without being prompted by surveyors.
Furthermore, according to the survey, economic concerns are also changing the nature of planned trips this summer among some travelers. Of the 10.3 million saying that they plan to travel less or not at all this summer due to the state of the economy, 12% expect to take fewer trips this summer. 5% say they will shorten the length of their trip and 4% will not be traveling as far away from home. Other ways travel plans may be affected include spending less money on things such as lodging and food (4%) and/or driving to the destination instead of flying (3%).
Out of nine U.S. census regions involved in the study, travelers residing in the Pacific region (California, Oregon, or Washington state) are the most likely to feel that their summer travel plans are being affected by rising fuel prices. As expected, travelers with household incomes less than $25,000 are much more likely than those with higher incomes to say rising fuel prices affected their summer travel plans.
Lastly, one in five, or 20% of the 138.5 milliion U.S. adults who traveled in the past year plan on traveling more this summer compared to last summer. This translates to about 28 million U.S. adults who plan on traveling this summer. (5/18/01)