Encouraging Signs For The Year Ahead

The overall U.S. Traveler Sentiment Index ™ (TSI) soared 10% in February 2012 as perceptions of travel across all six factors from which the index is derived exhibited substantial improvement from last quarter. According to the most recent MMGY Global/U.S. Travel Association travelhorizons™ survey, the overall TSI now stands at 93.6, up from 85.0 in October 2011.

 "Money available for travel" experienced a gain of 20% and "affordability of travel" rose 8%, suggesting that consumers are increasingly more positive about their ability to afford travel. However, the latest "affordability of travel" index of 102.6 still remains well below its July 2009 peak of 124.0, when travel suppliers ramped up discounts and special offers to counteract the impact of the Great Recession.

While these substantial gains would normally be touted as the start of a turnaround from the challenges through which the industry has passed the previous two years, comparisons with February 2011 reveal that the new TSI is still two points below the level of 95.2 observed one year ago – signaling that U.S. adults' attitudes toward travel remain essentially unchanged.

Leisure travel intentions have, similarly, changed little during the past 12 months. According to the travelhorizons™ survey, 56% of U.S. adults intend to take at least one trip primarily for leisure purposes between February and July 2012. One quarter of all adults, or 59 million, are not planning to travel for leisure purposes during the next six months. The remaining 44 million adults, however, have yet to decide whether or not to take a leisure trip.

This statistic represents a significant market opportunity for destinations and other travel service suppliers to convert this "latent" demand, and indicates that aggressive marketers will likely be rewarded for their proactive business development efforts.

To order a complete copy of the travelhorizons™ survey report, please contact Greg Dunn at [email protected].