The perceived “affordability of travel” is making Americans more bullish about leisure travel.
That’s one take-away from the U.S. Traveler Sentiment Index, a quarterly analysis of Americans’ travel intentions done by the U.S. Travel Association and Ypartnership.
The index, pegged at 100 when the study started in March 2007, was at 78.2 last October. By February, it had jumped to 90.2—not great perhaps, but definitely an improvement. More...
Authors say the spike is a direct result of the travel industry discounting. Promotions, discounts and incentives are available in practically every travel industry segment. Some prices are 50 percent lower than six months ago.
The index is derived from six statistical measurements: interest in travel; availability of time to travel; availability of money to travel; perceived affordability of travel; quality of travel services; and safety.
"We are very encouraged that more people are signaling a willingness to travel for leisure purposes," said Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership. "This is the first increase we have observed in the index since January 2008 . . . . (T)his is actually a terrific time to travel because some of these great deals are sure to disappear once the industry begins to recover."
The outlook for business travel isn’t as promising. U.S. Travel predicts that segment to decline as much as 5.6 percent this year.
The White House spoke out this week in support of business travel. Segments of the travel industry rose up after President Barack Obama recently criticized corporate junkets, comments some said stigmatized all business travel. The Administration responded by saying its distress is with inappropriate spending by companies that have received federal bailouts.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29667132/