Trends in Travel Articles

One Billionth International Traveler, underscores Sustainability as a core component of Successful Travel Business Models.

(Dive Travel Business News - April 2, 2013) -- Despite a year of global economic uncertainty, more than a billion tourists managed to travel outside their countries' borders in 2012, according to statistics released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The figure marks a new record for international tourism -- a rise of 20 million tourists over 2011 and the first time the number has hit a billion.

Travel & Tourism, one of the world’s largest industries, outperformed the global economy in 2012 and grew faster than many other notable industries such as manufacturing, financial services, communications and retail.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) economic research, in 2012, Travel & Tourism grew its total contribution to GDP by 3% to US$6.6 trillion in GDP (a rise of US$500 billion year-on-year) and increased its number of jobs by five million to 260 million. For the first time, one in every 11 jobs in the world is now supported by Travel & Tourism. read more »

Second Strong Year of Arrivals for Cayman Islands.

(Dive Travel Business News - Friday January 18, 2013) -- Although final year-end 2012 numbers have yet to be issued, Cayman Islands air arrivals for were up 3.9 percent between January and September. Air arrivals through November of 2012 (the last month for which statistics are available), showed the destination within reach of its goal, with 286,242 arrivals. When the final tally is in it will have welcomed more than 300,000 overnight visitors in 2012, the first time in 10 years the Caribbean destination has registered as many “stayover” tourists in consecutive years, according to Shomari Scott, director of tourism.

While the year-end 2012 will not reach the historic highs achieved between 2003 and 2007 (when annual cruise traffic averaged 1,790,106 visitors), the destination’s cruise business remains buoyant, said Scott, echoing the Caymans’ success in attracting more overnight visitors. read more »

WTTC Predicts Growth for Travel and Tourism

(Dive Travel Business News - November 2, 2012) -- Despite an uncertain economy, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that growth in the global Travel & Tourism industry in 2012 will be broadly in line with expectations set at the beginning of the year.

In a recently updated forecast, the WTTC estimates the sector will increase 2.7 percent this year, a slight downgrade from the 2.8 percent projected at the beginning of the year.

The main reasons for the marginal downgrade are that WTTC now expects world GDP growth to be 2.3 percent in 2012, down 0.2 percent from the beginning of the year and due in part to the continuing problems in the Eurozone. The latest economic data from WTTC’s research partner, Oxford Economics, show marginal downgrades in the Eurozone and the U.S. since the beginning of the year, contrasting with upgrades in Japan and emerging markets. read more »

Mexico Arrivals are Up.

(Dive Travel Business News - July 16, 2012) -- Mexico's Ministry of Tourism has reported that air arrivals were up 5% in the first five months of 2012. The Ministry says approximately 4.9 million international tourists visited Mexico between January and May 2012.

Although drug-related violence and local crime in Mexico continued to be reported in the press early this year, popular Mexican resort destinations such as Riviera Maya, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta reported hotel occupancy increases of 3.1%, 8.7% and 10.6% respectively from January to May, year on year.

Mexico continues to be the number one international destination for US travelers, according to the US Department of Commerce. In the first quarter of 2012, the country took a 19% slice of the US's outbound tourism pie.

Visitors from other countries to Mexico also increased including: Russia (73.6%), UK (6.9%), Brazil (65.3%), China (32%), Australia (9.6%), France (6.3%), Germany (5.2%), Italy (6%), Colombia (21%), Chile (13.5%), and Japan (18.7%). read more »

Sunny Outlook for Summer Travel

(Dive Travel Business News - June 1, 2012) -- For the second consecutive year, the US outlook for summer travel continues to brighten according to several surveys

TripAdvisor, for example, says 86% of travelers are planning leisure trips this summer, up from 81% last year.

"More than three in five US Adults or an estimated 154 million Americans plan at least one leisure trip during the next six months. The Travelhorizons quarterly report by MMGY Global and the US Travel Association is based on a survey of 2,200 adults.

Surveys show that traveler"s confidence in the economy is improving, says Peter Yesawich, vice chairman of MMGY Global.

"The forthcoming summer travel season is therefore a wonderful time for travel service suppliers to capitalize on this growing optimism," he said.

"We are seeing a renewed enthusiasm for travel among consumers and barring any dramatic events, we believe that domestic travel will remain on solid footing through the summer travel season," said Roger Dow, US Travel"s president and CEO. read more »

South Africa Reports Record Visitors from U.S. in 2011

(Dive Travel Business News - May 4, 2012) -- South African Tourism North America said 2011 was a record-breaking year of tourist arrivals from the U.S. following a breakthrough year with FIFA World Cup that made history in South Africa. With a year-on-year increase of 1.9 percent, representing 287,614 travelers from the U.S., and a total increase of 23.2 percent in the last two years during one of the toughest economic times is proof of the resiliency of the destination.

South African Tourism attributes positive and sustainable growth numbers to concerted efforts by partners in both trade and consumer marketing that always stressed value for money. Major investments in integrated marketing platforms in 2011 parlayed mass-level consumer awareness including media partnerships with the New York Times Travel Show, the Los Angeles Times Travel Show, National Geographic & Whole Foods experience, as well interactive social media programs. read more »

Survey Says: Growing Consumer Dissatisfaction with OTA's, Supplier Websites.

(Dive Travel Business News - April 9, 2012) -- Of the more than 2,000 business and leisure travelers surveyed by the IBM Institute for Business Value and its research partner, Frost & Sullivan in their report entitled "Travel 2020: The Distribution Dilemma," researchers said that while most travelers see value as most important in travel, less than half of leisure and business travelers believe they're getting a fair value for their travel dollar when they book online. The report's authors determined the underlying dissatisfaction with most online travel intermediaries - Online Travel Agencies and Online Supplier Booking Engines - is based on their focus on price instead of value. read more »

Record-breaking Year for Mexico Travel in 2011

(Dive Travel Business News - April 11, 2012) -- Mexico's Ministry of Tourism (SECTUR) recently announced that 2011 was a record-breaking year that saw 22.67 million international travelers. That's 2 percent higher than in 2010, which in turn was 5.7 percent higher than 2009. More important, 2011's international arrivals were 0.2 percent higher than 2008, Mexico's best year in history to that point. read more »

People "Spending on their Passions" Leisure Trends Group Outdoor RetailTRAK™ Survey Says.

(Dive Travel Business News - October 22, 2011) -- Preliminary Outdoor RetailTRAK™ data from Leisure Trends Group report that core outdoor retail sales totaled approximately $462M this September, a full $62M more dollars and a solid 17% increase over September 2010.

"This is the strongest September on record since Leisure Trends Group began tracking Outdoor Sales in 1998" states Senior Retail Analyst, Scott Jaeger, who has been with the firm since 1999.

Outdoor chain stores, with over $213M in sales surged a healthy 18% and specialty stores, jumping 20% to roughly $163M in retail sales, had their best September in at least a decade. Online retailers, growing 10%, sold nearly $86M worth of outdoor products this September.

Easily outpacing "a better-than-expected" 5.7% increase for retail sales as reported by the National Retail Federation , the 17% September surge for outdoor retailers point to a committed constituency of outdoor participants and shoppers undeterred by still uncertain economic conditions. read more »

Unprecedented Impulse Demand for Last Minute Trips

Impulse Travel Market Expands, poses challenges for travel pros

(Dive Travel Business News - November 2, 2010) -- The 2010 Portrait of American Travelers - a recent study by Ypartnership/Harrison Group - indicates that irresistible travel offers are driving impulse demand, encouraging more Americans than ever before to take “last minute” vacations.

One of the market forces accelerating the trend toward more impulsive vacation behavior on such short notice is the growing use of ‘flash sales’ by travel service suppliers. These impulsive offers, delivered through unsolicited Emails, have become more commonplace during the past 12 months as suppliers have tried to liquidate what would otherwise be unsold inventory. The study found that fully one out of seven recipients of these unsolicited Emails reported purchasing a travel service as a result. read more »