Positive Winter Travel Trends

Travel Agent Central: Consumers are spending more time planning their winter trips and they are planning their vacations farther out, Tripology, Rand McNally’s online travel referral service, reports. The new Third Quarter Travel Trend Report also shows travelers spending more money on their winter and holiday vacations when compared with the average trip budgets reported in the summer and fall. The Travel Trend Report also provides insight into the top requested travel destinations for winter 2012.

Key findings from the 2011 Third Quarter Travel Trend report are as follows:

- The Top Five Most Requested Countries since January 2011 have been: U.S., Mexico, Italy, Bahamas and Jamaica

- The Top Five Most Requested Cities (for the 3rd quarter in a row) are: Las Vegas, Orlando, Cancun, Miami and Honolulu

- The Average Consumer Budget has risen to $5,710 per trip. This is a steady increase from the first quarter 2011, when the average consumer trip budget was $5,239 per trip. The average consumer trip budget during the winter travel season also increased considerably last year, rising from $4,784 in Q1 to approximately $5,663 per trip in Q3

- The number of days until trip departure (the amount of time between quote request and beginning of trip) increased to 130 days. This was a similar trend in Q3 2010, indicating that consumers tend to spend more time planning their vacations and plan their trips farther out during the winter and holiday travel period

- The most popular winter trip length is between three and four days, the second most popular trip length is four to five days and the third is a trip between seven and eight days. Over 76 percent of travelers’ requests were for a trip duration of fewer than eight days, which was similar to last year’s findings.

“Overall our Third Quarter Trend Report reveals a positive outlook for the winter travel season, as consumers continue to increase their trip budgets as well as their advanced planning of trips during this time of the year,” said John T. Peters, vice president and general manager of digital strategy and travel of Rand McNally.

“Because these trends show that consumers are spending more money and time planning their winter vacations compared to the summer and fall months, it also suggests that a greater number of consumers are currently seeking out the expertise and services of travel professionals to help them maximize their winter trip budgets and plan truly memorable vacations that they are willing to spend a little extra money on," Peters said.

Additionally, the Tripology Trend Report reveals the following Tripology.com stats:

- The demand for travel to Asia increased each month during Q3 2011

- Paris and Rome show enduring popularity for travelers to Western Europe

- Punta Cana is the most requested Caribbean winter travel destination

- The Top Ten Most Requested U.S. Cities are: Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, Honolulu, Maui, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and Boston. The top requested U.S. cities were relatively the same in 2010, with the exception of Boston, a newcomer to the top ten most requested list.

The Tripology Trend Report is sponsored by the Association of Travel Marketing Executives, and is published quarterly by Tripology, a service of Rand McNally.