I’ve been tracking travel trends since 1988. Every year at about this time, the news is flush with polls, predictions and prognostications for the upcoming summer travel season. So let’s examine this week’s AP-Gfk poll that produced gloomy headlines such as, Fewer Americans Vacationing This Summer.
Really? You know you can spin a poll number any way you’d like, so here’s another way of looking at the AP-Gfk Travel Poll of 1,000 U.S. adults taken April 16 to 20:
• Despite the gloom and doom, two-thirds of Americans HAVE NOT canceled at least one trip this year because of financial concerns.
• Given the state of the economy, a startling 42 percent of Americans plan to take a leisure trip this summer, down only seven points since 2005 (from 49 percent) when the economy was in significantly better shape.
• Two-thirds of those who make more than $100,000 per year will take a vacation this summer. Half of those earning $50,000 to $100,000 will do the same.
• The “staycation” is dead: The poll found that 80 percent of those planning a trip this summer WILL NOT stay closer to home due to economic worries, while 77 percent plan to stay at a hotel and NOT in the guest room or on the sofa of friends and families.
Chris McGinnis keeps San Francisco Bay Area travelers informed with the Bay Area Traveler.
