LOS ANGELES Marketing efforts by regional travel bureaus, theme parks and hotels have helped boost travel rates among Latinos by 11% and African Americans by 16%, according to the survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). Travel by Asian Americans was up 7%.
Growth in travel among these three minority groups surpassed growth in travel among all Americans during 1999 by at least six percentage points. Minorities accounted for 17% of all trips taken in the U.S. in 1999 but accounted for 20% of total spending on domestic travel or about $90 billion.
According to the TIA survey, minority travel focused largely on visits to friends and relatives and occured mostly within the travelers home region. Furthermore, Asian Americans and Latinos tended to spend about $100 to $200 more per trip than the overall average of $438, excluding transportation expenses. (1/11/01)
SOURCE:The Los Angeles Times