A national poll of over 800 active travelers conducted last week by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell indicates that most U.S. travelers will continue on with their summer travel plans despite military action in Iraq and the heightened terror alert
A national poll of over 800 active travelers conducted last week by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell indicates that most U.S. travelers will continue on with their summer travel plans despite military action in Iraq and the heightened terror alert issued by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office:
• 72 percent of leisure travel respondents stated that the current situation in Iraq would not affect their summer plans, while only 13 percent said it would greatly affect their plans.
• 62 percent of respondents indicated that the possibility of major terrorist attacks in the U.S would not affect their summer plans. One-fifth of respondents felt that potential terrorist attacks in the U.S. would greatly affect their summer travel plans.
Most respondents (56%) said they were more likely to vacation within the U.S. because of current world events, with 58 percent stating that they were less likely to vacation outside of the U.S. this summer.
• 63 percent believed that Americans traveling overseas would be greeted less positively as result of U.S. military action in Iraq.
• Seventy-five percent (75%) of Americans are planning to travel this summer, according to a summer U.S. travel forecast poll conducted by Harris Interactive for Yahoo! Travel.
• 14 percent of respondents are still undecided on how or where they will vacation this summer 29 percent plan to spend their vacation visiting family and friends; 21 percent plan to vacation at the beach.
Most Americans plan to visit more than one destination; 61 percent plan to return to a place they had visited previously; 41 percent say they are likely to try a new destination. Americans plan to spend an average of $1,756 per household on vacations this summer (including transportation, accommodations, food expenses and entertainment).
Another study showed that Americans are “Vacation Deprived.”
Thirty percent of employed adults will give up vacation time they have earned — a total of 415 million vacation days in 2004. Employed Americans will give up an average of three vacation days this year, up 50 percent from 2003. Furthermore, one-third of respondents stated that they check office voicemail or e-mail during their holiday, suggesting that “working vacations” are becoming standard.
Survey respondents agree that vacation time is an important priority in life, with 65 percent saying they come back feeling “rested, rejuvenated, and reconnected with family and friends,” and 52 percent stating that they return feeling better about their jobs and are more productive at work.
