Pent up Demand for Vacations in Summer 2011

(Dive Travel Business News - April 29, 2011) -- According to Leisure Trends Group's April 2011 LeisureTRAK® Study, Americans have had it with hanging around the house. This summer 57% of American households say they will pack up and head out. While one in four have specific plans, a full 31% intend to take a vacation but have not made specific plans. Twenty-three percent are undecided about whether or not to take a summer vacation.  Younger Americans are especially determined to get up and go this summer.  Seventy-one percent have either specific or still-forming vacation plans.

One in four American families know where they will vacation this summer. Nearly another one-third are committed to taking a vacation, but have not decided where they are headed or how they will spend their time. Twenty-three percent are undecided about taking a vacation, while 21% say they will be staying home.

Income influences summer plans. Forty percent of households with incomes greater than $80,000 have specific plans, while another 42% intend to take a vacation but don’t know where. In 2010, 77% of households with incomes of $80,000 or more actually took vacations, compared to the 82% who say they will in 2011.

Families, especially, plan to loosen the purse strings. If kids inhabit the nooks and crannies of the home, 37% of vacationers plan to spend more money this year than last, and 14% plan to spend much more. And they may have to, because prices are going up for everything from gas to hamburgers.

Younger Americans are also determined to vacation. Seventy-one percent of 16- to 24-year-olds have either specific or nebulous plans to take a vacation. Another 10% are undecided. In general, indecision creeps in if you are 35 or over, with from 26% to 28% still pondering their summer plans, depending on the age group.

The car is the preferred method of travel at 63%, with airlines second at 40%. Boats and trains add up to another 11%. Of the vacationing crowd, 28% are going camping, hiking, golfing, surfing, or on another type of sport vacation.

Vacations are really about getting away. Only 12% are sticking close to home, and over 40% will travel more than 250 miles from home. Fifteen percent say they will leave the country, despite the lines at the airport, social mayhem, currency fluctuations, fires, floods, earthquakes, and the backs of airline seats that rub your chin.

About LeisureTRAK® - For more than twenty years, Leisure Trends Group (LTG) has conducted the LeisureTRAK® study, the definitive guide to what Americans do and love to do in their free time, as well as their leisure attitudes and motivations. LTG defines leisure time as the free time Americans have when they are not working, sleeping or doing things they "have" to do. LeisureTRAK® research is available through individual reports and annual subscriptions, proprietary questions and custom analysis, as well as database access to 76,000 plus interviews since 1989. Leisure Trends Group is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. For more information, contact Julia Day, 303-786-7900 x107 or jday@leisuretrends.com or visit Leisure Trends.

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