Industry News

ECONOMY CURBS AMERICANS’ SUMMER TRAVEL
Hit by the country's economic slow-down, a majority of Americans do not plan to travel this summer, and most of those who will travel won't be going far from home, according to a new poll. Over a third, or 34 percent, of people surveyed in a Marist poll said that they had changed their travel plans to save money. The telephone survey also showed that 55 percent of American adults won't be booking any summer vacation plans at all, compared to 52 percent in the summer of 2010. "We're continuing to see the effects of the economic slump on people's vacation plans," said Dr. Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College poll. "People are reacting to the downturn and adjusting their vacation plans accordingly." Of the 45 percent who do plan to travel, 41 percent said they were planning multiple short weekend trips, compared to 35 percent who wanted to go on at least one long trip. In 2009, 47 percent of people planned to go out of town on an extended voyage and 42 percent said they were going on shorter trips. Just under a quarter of those polled said they were planning both short weekend trips and longer vacations, compared with just 11 percent in 2009. (Reuters, MSNBC.com, July 15)

BUSINESS TRAVEL SPENDING, VOLUME REMAIN STEADY
Business travel spending and volume remained steady in the second quarter of 2011 despite headwinds facing the economic recovery, reaching an estimated $62.2 billion in spend – a 6.3 percent increase year-over-year. The forecast for total business travel spending growth in 2011 also remains strong at 6.9 percent according to the latest Business Travel Quarterly Outlook – United States from the Global Business Travel Association Foundation. Travel prices are on the rise, with increases expected to continue throughout the rest of 2011, but at a more moderate pace than earlier in the year. Airfares have swelled due to rising energy prices, constrained capacity and relatively strong demand. Higher lodging rates also are driving increases in company travel costs while corporate demand also continues to grow, particularly for luxury hotel rooms. As a result, business travel prices are expected to increase by 4.5 percent to 5 percent in 2011. (HotelNewsResource.com, July 13)

U.S. CAMPAIGN WILL BE AIMED AT ATTRACTING FOREIGN VISITORS
The Corporation for Travel Promotion, a public-private partnership, is planning a new campaign to attract foreign visitors to the United States. The new global marketing campaign is expected to have $150 million in funding for the first year. The campaign's theme and new brand identity will be revealed in November in London at World Travel Market, while the actual campaign will be launched at the ITB Berlin travel event in March. The board's vice chairman, George Fertitta (who heads NYC & Company) said the CTP is evaluating bids from global advertising firms to develop the campaign and will view strategic presentations in August, with an eye to getting the brand identity and campaign into development in September. (TravelWeekly.com, July 13)

FALLING U.S. DOLLAR WILL LURE CANADIAN TOURISTS THIS SUMMER
U.S. tourism businesses that cater to Canadians can expect more robust activity this summer in large part because of the weak dollar, predicts IBIS World in their latest research. “An anticipated influx of foreign tourists will boost demand for transportation, lodging and entertainment services,” the company says. It added: “In particular, tourism from Canada, which accounts for about 40 percent of all trips to the United States by foreign citizens, will experience a stronger summer than last year due to the country’s economic recovery.” (TravelMole.com, July 13)

ONLINE HOTEL REVIEWS GET HIGH MARKS
Feedback-research company Market Metrix recently compared user reviews of 67 North American hotels on TripAdvisor.com with Market Metrix's proprietary Hospitality Index. "Turns out that the crowd may not be as stupid as it's typically portrayed," Rob Lovitt writes of the online reviewers. “The mean scores matched up almost uncannily well,” said co-founder and chief research officer Jonathan Barsky. The conclusion? “By and large, review sites are generally reliable.” The most significant difference, he added, was that TripAdvisor reviews showed a greater range of variability than the MMHI surveys, a fact that won’t surprise anyone who has read some of the more fervent or vitriolic reviews on the site. “They showed higher highs and lower lows,” said Barsky. “People self-select when they decide to post a review because they’re either very happy or very unhappy.” (MSNBC.com, July 11)

SEATTLE HOTELS EMBRACE $2 TAX TO LURE VISITORS
The Seattle Hotel Association and Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau are among local groups seeking to replenish depleted promotion coffers by adding a $2 per night fee to sales and room taxes that are already among the highest in the nation. The money would be used for advertising to promote off-season leisure tourism to Seattle and help replace funds lost by the closure of the state’s tourism office this year and the scheduled loss of $50,000 in city tourism funds next year. On July 12, Tom Norwalk, Seattle CVB’s president and CEO, said the $2 per night assessment would be added to guest bills at 53 hotels with more than 60 rooms in a downtown hotel-tax district. The fee could raise an estimated $5 million to $6 million in 2012. If approved by the Seattle City Council, the new fee could go into effect as early as November and be added to the 15.6 percent sales and room tax Seattle hotel guests already pay. The city currently has the fourth-highest combined hotel tax rate for a central city location. According to a study of travel taxes conducted by the Global Business Travel Association and Concur, the $2 fee would put Seattle in the No. 3 spot, just three cents behind New York City. Chicago currently has the highest total taxes on travelers. (MSNBC.com, July 12)