Leisure Trends Group

(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 »

(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. read more »

(Dive Travel Business News - May 31, 2010) -- Leisure Trends Group reports in its RetailTRAK™ SCUBA Dive Retail Sales Survey that SCUBA Dive Retail Dollar Sales for March 2010 were down 2% compared to last March.  Total dive industry retail dollar sales were down 2% compared to March 2009.

Here are the category changes in dollar sales by channel, compared to March 2009: read more »