Rising Gasoline Prices May Alter Summer Vacations
MAY 24, 2007. With a busy summer travel season predicted, a new travelhorizonsTM survey co-authored by the Travel Industry Association and Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell examined the impact of escalating gasoline prices on the travel intentions of Americans. The results reveal that Americans remain upbeat about their travel plans even as the price at the pump continues to rise. They also reveal the "tipping point" for the majority of Americans is likely to be $3.50 per gallon, at which price the slight majority of travelers state they would reevaluate their summer travel plans.
"The good news is that we expect more travel this summer," TIA president and CEO Roger J. Dow said. "But if prices rise above $3.50 per gallon, it appears that many Americans may change their travel plans."
Highlights of the survey are provided below:
o Leisure travelers are planning to take slightly more trips this summer than last (1.8 versus 1.6);
o 9 out of 10 (87%) leisure travelers expect gasoline prices to rise this summer;
o The price per gallon at which the majority of American leisure travelers state they would "change their vacation plans" is $3.50. Fully 6 out of 10 (61%) leisure travelers say they would change their vacation plans if the price at the pump reaches $3.75 per gallon;
o When asked how their plans would change, the most frequently mentioned responses were "take fewer trips this summer" (35%) and "cancel my trip" (31%). One out of four (26%) leisure travelers said "drive a shorter distance" or "postpone my trip until the price of gas comes down;"
o Fully 16% of leisure travelers said they would not alter their summer vacation plans regardless of the price of gasoline.
The national survey of 1546 leisure travelers was conducted in March 2007, and the estimated margin of error is +/-2.2% at the 95% confidence level.
The Travel Industry Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $700 billion travel industry. TIA's mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States. TIA is proud to be a partner in travel with American Express. For more information, visit www.tia.org.
Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell is America's leading marketing, advertising and public relations agency serving travel industry clients and co-author of the widely-quoted National Travel MonitorTM with Yankelovich Inc.
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