USA Vacation Trends and Family Travel 2009 - Connecting, Sharing, and Quality Time. Each year Ypartnership/Yankelovich 2009 National Travel Monitor provides a snapshot of American travelers spotlighting their habits and highlighting trends. For 2009 it appears that technology and social values are the biggest influencers of American travelers according to Peter Yesawich. Travel Monitor data shows that technology is especially influential with 61% of active travelers saying they use the Internet exclusively for travel research. In addition, 56% of travelers said they book their travel online as well.
Quality time and intergenerational travel. While bargain shopping for vacations is for many a hobby or at least an entertaining pastime for parents and grandparent family values over ride price. Research shows that Americans are actually willing to spend more to travel with their family. The Monitor found that Americans are more interested in spending quality time with their families, and family and intergenerational travel are among the hottest trends.
"There is a growing sense of parental guilt," Yesawich said. According to the 2009 Monitor, 71% of parents surveyed said they wish their family spent more time together, and 69% said they wish they had more time to just sit and talk with their kids. Furthermore, this guilt has transformed the way Americans vacation, Yesawich added.
The number of families traveling with children is growing dramatically. In 2009, 43% of adults took at least one trip with children during the previous 12 months. This is up from just 26% in 2000. The reason for this growth can be seen in the social values parents express when responding to Monitor questions.
Count on the grandparents. But parents aren't the only ones traveling with family. Thirty-five percent of all leisure travelers are now grandparents and of those, 28% took at least one trip with grandchildren last year.
"Multigenerational travel will grow forever," Yesawich proclaimed as he revealed that every nine seconds, someone in the US is turning 50.
Let’s celebrate together. Dovetailing with the family vacation trend is the celebration vacation. Whether it is a family reunion, graduation, birthday, or anniversary, Americans like the idea of celebrating together.
According to Ypartnership and Disney, 70% of leisure travelers have taken a vacation to celebrate a special occasion. Such vacations are often planned further ahead; more people travel together and celebration vacations last longer. More importantly, Yesawich said, on average consumers spend 40% more on celebration vacations than on their other travels.
Milestone birthdays and anniversaries are the top two events for a celebration vacation, according to the Monitor. But family reunions also are popular, said Yesawich, noting that one out of five American vacationers traveled last year to attend a family reunion. For example, Disney has capitalized on this celebration vacation trend with a new campaign that allows people to visit any Disney park on their birthday for free. According to Yesawich, the promotion has been the single most successful promotion Disney has ever done.
Look at the map. When asked about their interest in visiting specific regions across the country during the next two years, more than seven in ten (72%) leisure travelers said they’d like to visit the western region of the United States, followed by the South with 62 percent (62%), the Northeast with 33 percent (33%) and the Midwest with 21 percent (21%).
And the most popular award goes to? Sunshine seems to be in demand as a vacation requirement and apparently not everyone is planning to stay home because Florida continues with a secure lead as the most sought tourist destination with 34% mentioning the Sunshine State as the destination they would like to visit most in the next 2 years. First runner up – not surprising- California with 30%, and then Arizona and Hawaii, both tied at 16% each. The most popular states include:
Florida – 34%
California – 30%
Arizona – 16%
Hawaii – 16%
New York – 15%
Washington (state) - 13%
Alaska – 12%
Colorado – 12%
Texas – 12%
Nevada – 11%
Where on the planet? And when it comes to specific destinations, the National Parks top the charts, with 66% of leisure travelers opting for the National Parks as their dream destination. The balance of the list is varied.
Hawaiian Neighbor Islands (Maui, Kauai, etc) - 63%
Honolulu - 59%
Florida Keys - 45%
Orlando - 40%
San Diego -39%
San Francisco -38%
Las Vegas -36%
New York City -36%
Lake Tahoe -34%
Content and data credited to The Ypartnership/Yankelovich 2009 National Travel Monitor.
