Vacationers are not swayed by negative travel news: Expedia Travel Trendwatch

A poll by Expedia.com, conducted in July, has found that 68 percent of US adults who have taken or plan to take a summer vacation this year will not modify their vacation plans because of negative news around air travel hassles and rising prices.

Published: 08 Aug 2007

A poll by Expedia.com, conducted in July, has found that 68 percent of US adults who have taken or plan to take a summer vacation this year will not modify their vacation plans because of negative news around air travel hassles and rising prices.

On the poll, the online travel company shared that Harris Interactive fielded the online survey on behalf of Expedia.com between July 10th and July 12th, 2007, among a nationwide sample of 2,273 US adults 18 years of age or older.

As per its quarterly report, Expedia Travel Trendwatch, Expedia found that travelers are taking the tough summer season in stride as their desire for relaxing and restorative vacations outweighs the potential delays or problems that can occur during peak travel season.

“It’s encouraging to see that despite the tough travel environment, vacationers are still hitting the roads and skies this summer,” said Chris McGinnis, editor, Expedia Travel Trendwatch. “The tradition of summer vacation remains ingrained in the American psyche and travelers are rolling with the punches this year. They are finding some surprises like lower airfares, warm welcomes overseas and new tools like user-generated content sites to help make better travel decisions.”

Among the key highlights were:

· Airfares to some major markets have gone down year-over-year and tighter domestic growth could mean fewer discounts in the near-term, but capacity growth on international routes bodes well for shoulder-season or off-peak discounting this fall or winter.

· Vacationers are grappling with high hotel rates in most markets however; savvy shoppers are relying on user generated content on sites such as TripAdvisor.com to help make wise accommodation choices. Similarly, Expedia.com recently introduced the Insider’s Select list of the world’s best hotels as rated by Expedia.com travelers and the organisation’s own destination experts.

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