A Travel “Epidemic” Is Here

A strong optimism is pervasive amongst American leisure travelers, suggesting continued good times—or likely even better ones—are in store for the travel industry.  In the latest Destination Analysts’ The State of the American Traveler survey, which tracks traveler sentiment, expectations for near-term leisure travel have soared quite beyond what has been seen in the past nine summers, and may have reached an all-time high.  In typical summer waves of this survey, enthusiasm for travel is muted compared to January.  At this point in the year, travelers have been quite possibly satiated from recent summer adventures, or they might also be in the midst of planning for an impending trip.  Whatever the cause, travel expectations have been invariably lower. However, this July, more than a third (34.3%) of American travelers said they expect to increase the number of leisure trips they will take in the upcoming year. This marks an increase from 31.1 percent in January and significantly above levels seen in previous summer waves of the survey, in which only 29 percent of travelers expected to travel more in the upcoming year.

American travelers are in the mood to spend, too, with spending expectations sky high.   Fully 35 percent of travelers say they expect to spend more on their leisure trips in the coming 12 months. This again breaks with the summer norm, where in the last three years an average of just 29.8 percent of travelers expected to increase their trip spending.

The table below illustrates this upward bounce in American’s demand for increased travel volume and spending.

Recent Historical Perspective
American Leisure Travelers Planning to Travel and Spend More (% All Travelers)
SATS-IMAGE
Source: The State of the American Traveler, Destination Analysts, Inc.

These results fit nicely with national sentiment trends which show that consumers feel significantly better about the economy overall this summer.  The Conference Board recently reported that its index of consumer confidence jumped to 101.4 in June from 94.6 in May.   Nothing drives demand like consumers feeling positive about the economy and their personal economic situation.  This coupled with the increased social value being placed on travel, and the outlook for leisure travel demand in the near term is rosy. The remainder of this year should be a great one for the industry.

Download your copy of the summary The State of the American Traveler report here.

 

 

Check out our new Destination Analysts adventure video made by Bogdan and the team at IRIS Adventures! As we braved the rugged challenges in Golden Gate Park, we refined our communication skills and enhanced our invidual strengths. It was a memorable day and we’re all looking forward to our next teambuilding adventure.

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Thank you Bogdan and the team at IRIS Adventures! We had a blast riding GoCars through Golden Gate Park, going on a treasure hunt, solving puzzles, and most of all learning about ourselves and each other. We can’t wait to go an another team adventure! For a day filled with fun teambuilding and challenging yet fulfilling exercises, we highly recommend IRIS Adventures. See more photos of our teambuilding day here.

The early 2015 edition of our The State of the American Traveler report is now out. As always, this edition explored several topics relevant to travel marketers and uncovered some fascinating insights about American travelers.  One of the most interesting included the types of content that travelers feel is most relevant to their ultimate destination decision.

Travel resource usage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long time followers of The State of the American Traveler may recall a similar question asked one year ago. This time, we removed the concept of cost—something most of our destination marketers cannot control–in order to really look at what content motivates the desire to visit. Interestingly, hotel and lodging information still reigns supreme.  However, this is closely followed by restaurant and dining information. People are most interested in where they sleep and what they eat when it comes to picking the destination.

1.  Skift goes old school. The popular travel industry website Skift is launching a print magazine, scheduled for release in January.

2.  Gasoline prices are continuing to fall.  In much of the country, the price of gasoline is now below two dollars–and overall it’s down more than a dollar from last year.

3.  AAA analysis says that lower gas prices will save consumers $75 billion this year. More money in our pockets means more money spent in our destination’s hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops.

4.  American consumer confidence increased in December.  The Conference Board reports that we’re feeling the improved job market and our sense of overall economic conditions haven’t been this high since February 2008.

5.  Aloha record-breaking year.  Hawaii’s tourism industry is reported to be on pace to beat last year’s record performance.

6. Destinations around the country report similar outstanding performances and outlooks.  Here are a few checking in during the past week:  Asheville. Philadelphia. New Orleans.

7.  Hilton Head and San Francisco hit home runs.  Our latest client and our fabulous hometown win a prestigious award.

8. The lodging sector outlook also feels good.  Our friends at PKF have released their Lodging Insights: U.S. Lodging Industry Forecast for 2015.  Take a watch.

9.  It turns out the tourism industry worldwide is big. Really big.  The World Travel and Tourism Council reports that the travel industry’s total contribution to the global economy rose to $6,990 billion, or 9.5% of the GDP.  It is expected to jump up by 4.3% to $7,289 billion, or 9.6% of the GDP for 2014.

10.  Airbnb gets really creative.   Airbnb sets out to help rid the world of strangers and turn us all into interior designers.

On a recent business trip to Alaska, we had lunch with a local entrepreneur whose very first business as a teenager was dog-sitting for tourists while they took day trip sightseeing cruises.  These travelers couldn’t exactly leave their dogs in their hotel or cars for the day, so they were in a pickle.  Neglect their beloved family member or forego one of the pinnacles of the Alaska visitor experience.  Our new friend saw a market for doggy day care and, for a few bucks, took care of his town’s tourist dogs while their families were at sea.

We’re telling you this story to draw attention to a market many DMOs may not be aware of and we’ll give you a word to the wise.  Destinations should not forget visitors traveling with man’s best friend.   While our impulse might be to simply add a “pet-friendly amenities” check box to hotel listings and move on, that would be a mistake.  As DMOs prepare their ever-changing content strategies, considering the needs of this enthusiastic traveling audience could reap significant rewards.

For several years we’ve been tracking the importance of dog-friendly amenities and destinations to the American public.  The results might surprise you. Nearly half of American travelers own a dog and one third of them (33.4%) have taken an overnight leisure trip with Fido in the past twelve months.  When we do the math, it tells us that about 30 million Americans will hit the road this year for an overnight trip with their dogs.

Having dog-friendly accommodations and activities is critically important to them, and they will be looking to you, the DMO, for advice.  Just for fun, here are a few stats from our most recent State of the American TravelerTM study to drive this point home.

Question: How important are pet-friendly policies and amenities to how you generally select your leisure travel accommodations (hotels, motels, etc?)

dog-1

Source: State of the American Traveler, July 2014. Base: American travelers who took an overnight leisure trip with their dog in the past year.  

 

Question: When you travel with your dog, do you typically choose well-known pet-friendly cities or destinations?
dog-2

Source: State of the American Traveler, July 2014. Base: American travelers who took an overnight leisure trip with their dog in the past year.  

Clearly, this audience will be demanding content that allows them to pick pet-friendly accommodations (is the check box really enough?)  They will also be looking for pet-friendly destinations in which to spend their money.  And dog-centric information is really important to them.  But what’s a DMO to do?  We suggest considering some professional advice.  So, we reached out to our friends at dogtrekker.com and spoke with co-founder Dave Kendrick, about the market and what DMOs should consider.

A few snippets from the conversation follow:

DA:  Tell us a little about DogTrekker.  What’s it all about?

DK:  Well, we launched DogTrekker.com in 2011.  It’s a collaboration of dog lovers who wanted to share what they’ve learned during their equivalent of 200 years of on-the-road and on-the-trail adventures. Based upon their 4-Paw Promise to research local and accurate dog-friendly lodging, chow, hikes, splash zones, attractions and local services; provide engaging content written by veteran travel writers; and demonstrate a strong commitment to local animal welfare groups.

DA:  How big has DogTrekker.com become?

DK:  DogTrekker.com has become the go-to resource for hundreds of thousands of California dog owners.  Prior to DogTrekker.com, there was no way for dog owners to know just how ‘dog-friendly’ a lodging property was. For a hotel or motel, dog-friendly is way beyond putting the check in the ‘pet-friendly’ box and a picture of a dog on their site. Hotels with large numbers of breed restrictions, limited size limits, high dog fees, misleading information on their site and untrained desk personnel fall more into the ‘dog-tolerant’ to ‘dog-unfriendly’ categories and are not listed on the site.

DA:  How important is this to travelers?

DK:  Well, your own research that shows nearly 48% of dog travelers find a poor selection of truly pet-friendly hotels, 80% say hotel polices and dog-friendly amenities are important when choosing a property and nearly 50% are turned off due to high pet fees.  Survey after survey shows that the majority of dog owners feel that their four-legged buddies are an important part of the family and as such, want them to be treated equally or even better than they are when traveling. We see it every trip we take with Kayla, the joy she feels when the lodging property or attraction staff goes out of their way to provide a warm and heartfelt welcome. At DogTrekker.com we measure it in ‘wags per mile.’

DA:  Do hotels get it?  Are they becoming more dog-friendly?

DK:  I mentioned the problems, but on the other side of the leash, you have Kimpton, Loews and Joie de Vivre, Best Western Plus, La Quinta and many more hotel groups who go out of their way to welcome dogs.  With clear, concise policies, superior training of the staff, providing fun and safe dog amenities and a desire to treat the four-legged guests with the same level of respect and courtesy as their 2-legged uprights, these hotel groups are considered by DogTrekker.com to be ‘dog-passionate.’

DA:  Why should DMOs be interested in DogTrekker?

DK:  We have many DMOs working with us now.  In fact, many of California’s destination marketing organizations are Paw-of-Approval partners of DogTrekker.com, collaborating on ways to make their destinations as welcoming and dog-passionate as they can be.

DA:  Thanks, Dave.

As you think about the dog-traveling market, we suggest you give DogTrekker a look.  They have a wealth of fun content and expertise that could be of value to your destination’s content development plans.  Dog Trekker is one of our favorite industry partners, and we strongly encourage our friends in the industry to reach out to them.

Website:  www.dogtrekker.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dogtrekker
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/dogtrekker