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Information, Please: 10 Excellent Traveler Surveys, Forecasts & Data Sources

June 23, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

U.S. Travel Association
MMGY + Expedia Group Media Solutions, Sojern, ADARA
Rove Marketing
Arrivalist
TSA
ADARA
Destination Analysts
Longwoods International
IGLTA
AH&LA

Total spending on domestic travel will drop 45% by the end of this year and inbound travel spending will fall 75%, according to the latest Tourism Economics forecast in a report prepared for the U.S. Travel Association.

The report indicates that recovery to pre-Covid numbers will take us into 2024, with international visitor spend recovery taking longer, perhaps 2025.

The analysis is based on estimates that total domestic leisure trips will drop from 1.8 billion in 2019 to 1.3 billion this year, while business trips are expected to fall to 300 million from 462 million.

The number of international visitors will total just 29 million, compared to 79.3 last year, the report projects.

“The data is telling us that travel and tourism has been more severely damaged than any other U.S. industry by the economic fallout of the health crisis,” said Tori Barnes, U.S. Travel Association EVP for public affairs and policy. “Given that travel employed one in 10 Americans and was the No. 2 U.S. export before the pandemic, supporting this industry through to the recovery phase ought to be a national priority.”

2) MMGY’s recent survey tracks traveler sentiment and intent, looking at impact on travel with regard to planning, booking and cancellations, as well as intention to travel over the next six months. Get key findings from June 15.

MMGY has brought together Expedia Group™ Media Solutions, Sojern and ADARA to create a unifying campaign that maintains a consumer presence for the travel industry, shares a message of positivity and reminds American travelers of the real power of travel. Launched last week, the digital campaign, entitled Where Can Travel Take You, will run through July.

MMGY Travel Intelligence’s latest Travel Intentions Pulse Survey found: 39% of U.S. travelers intend to take a domestic leisure trip in the next six months
56% of travelers say that due to the pandemic they’re more likely to book travel to U.S. destinations
42% expect to travel to destinations closer to home

All media drives consumers to a content-driven landing page experience on Expedia, www.traveltakesus.com, to start planning their next getaway. Participating destinations showcase the diversity of the country’s landscapes, seeking to encourage American travelers to consider the incredible experiences that might be right down the road. More info here.

Destinations include:

Bloomington, MN
Rhode Island
Charlotte, NC
South Dakota
The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, FL
Traverse City, MI

3.) Explore a new dashboard from Rove Marketing that monitors daily unique mobiles devices at 20 U.S. National Parks.

Find top origin cities and a breakdown of visitor driving distances to better understand American drive market and outdoor recreation travel trends. Click here.

4.) From Arrivalist, a Daily Travel Index to measure consumer road trips 50 miles or more throughout 50 states. Toggle between a map view and a daily travel index to see a drive market index of U.S. travelers who moved at least 50 miles from their home and spent a minimum of two hours on their journey. Click here.

5.) Access the national TSA checkpoint traveler numbers, updated daily Monday through Friday. The number reached a post-COVID peak at 576,000 travelers on 6/18/2020.

6.) Updated daily, ADARA‘s Traveler Trends Tracker taps into real-time travel data on travel-related consumer behavior including hotel volume and flight bookings for both business and leisure travel. Domestic air and hotel bookings for future travel continued to recover, from a peak of -89% year-over-year in the week of April 6 to -64% in the week of June 8.

7.) Get insights into Americans and travel in a weekly survey by Destinations Analysts. It tracks key consumer perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of American business and leisure travelers. Survey results from questions like the one below from 1,205 respondents during the week of June 22, 2020 are found here.

*Question: When it comes to getting back out and traveling again, which best describes your current state of mind?*

8.) Longwoods International conducted Wave 14 of the Travel Sentiment Study, fielded June 17, 2020 with a representative sampling of more than 1,000 American adults. Several key indicators were unchanged from two weeks ago. Travelers are more likely to support tourism businesses which demonstrate a clear, thorough cleaning and hygiene plan (43%), which test staff and the use of PPE by staff (34%), and those that have controls on social distancing at the business (34%). More here.

9.) In a recent survey of members conducted by the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association, two-thirds of LGBTQ+ individuals indicate they would feel comfortable traveling in the next six months, assuming safety protocols are in place. September is the most popular month.

“Previous studies have shown our community to be a resilient and loyal travel segment with a tendency to travel more than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts,” said John Tanzella, IGLTA president and CEO. “We wanted…to remind the tourism industry at large that LGBTQ+ travelers should be a valued part of their recovery plans. Messages of inclusion have the potential to resonate even more strongly with LGBTQ+ travelers now.”

48% are likely/very likely to stay in a hotel or resort
57% are likely/very likely to take a domestic leisure trip
34% are likely/very likely to stay in a vacation home, condo or rental apartment
29% are likely/very likely to take an international leisure trip
20% are likely/very likely to visit an amusement park
21% are likely/very likely to take a group trip
13% are likely/very likely to take a cruise
45% are likely/very likely to take a short-haul flight (3 hours or less)
35% are likely/very likely to take a medium-haul flight (3-6 hours)
27% are likely/very likely to take a long-haul flight (6 hours or more)
33% are likely/very likely to attend an LGBTQ+ Pride Event

The IGLTA Post Covid-19 LGBTQ+ Travel Survey was conducted April 16 – May 12, 2020 with responses from 14,658 individuals who identity as LGBTQ+. Click through for a worldwide result and a breakdown for the U.S.

10.) As a result of the sharp drop in travel demand from COVID-19, state and local tax revenue from hotel operations will drop by $16.8 billion in 2020, according to a new report by Oxford Economics released last week by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). Hardest hit states include California (-$1.9 billion), New York (-$ 1.3 billion), Florida (-$ 1.3 billion), Nevada (-$1.1 billion) and Texas (-$940 million). The report includes a state-by-state breakdown of the tax revenue losses. Read more here.

What American Travelers Are Thinking Right Now

June 9, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Key findings from the latest weekly wave of U.S. consumer traveler surveys plus business and convention travel are as follows. Click on the links to follow these reports and for more detailed data.

Longwoods International:

Americans are clearly more ready to travel than they have been in months. And they are becoming more confident about welcoming visitors to their communities as well.” — Amir Eylon, president and CEO

After dining and shopping, outdoor-related activities are tops in plans for Americans in their summer travels.
Those American travelers who have plans to travel in the next six months continues to hold steady at 70%.
Concerns about the economy greatly impacting American travelers’ decision to travel remains quite low at 19%.
46% of American travelers now support opening up their communities to visitors (up 10% since Memorial Day Weekend).
The percentage of American travelers who feel safe traveling outside their community remains relatively flat at 44%.

Note: The survey, supported by Miles Partnership, was fielded June 3, 2020 using a national sample randomly drawn from a consumer panel of 1,000 adults, ages 18 and over. Quotas were used to match Census targets for age, gender, and region to make the survey representative of U. S. population.

Destination Analysts:

American travelers’ feelings about their health, financial and travel safety continue to improve. More Americans report they are already traveling or ready to travel.” — Erin Francis-Cummings, president & CEO

70% will take at least one leisure trip in the remainder of 2020
Over three-quarters have a developed sense of where and when their next leisure trip will take place and the majority say there is little chance of cancellation.
40% say their next road trip will take place this summer.
Safety considerations are still important to travelers’ decision-making, from which destination they choose to visit to the hotels they select.
The majority of American travelers continue to opt forbeach, outdoor and rural type experiences for their next leisure trips.
Younger travelers and travelers in the Southern U.S. continue to be most excited to travel in the next month and open to travel inspiration.
Younger generations are more likely to use a diverse set of social media and digital tools for their trip research, while Baby Boomers are more likely to concentrate their travel research activity on web searches.
Four-in-ten convention/conference travelers say they would be happy to attend a convention in the fall.

Note: Every week since March 15, Destination Analysts has surveyed 1,200+ American travelers about their thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviors surrounding travel in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The findings presented below represent data collected June 5-7, 2020.

Ch-ch-changes, New CEOs, Some Partial Re-openings, What Consumers Are Saying

May 19, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Job alert: Experience Scottsdale is hiring a Social Media & Digital Marketing Specialist. See LinkedIn for details.

Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau has named Gregg Caren as the new president and CEO.

Mr. Caren has more than three decades of experience in the industry, including convention center management and hotel sales. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of sales and business development for ASM Global, which operates more than 350 venues worldwide. Caren has held board and leadership roles with the International Association for Exhibitions and Events, the National Association of Consumer Shows and the International Association of Venue Managers. He holds a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Penn State.

Caren is replacing Julie Coker, who served as CEO for more than five years and is headed to lead the San Diego Tourism Authority.

Royce Chwin has been appointed President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver, a 117-year-old organization. Mr. Chwin joins from Travel Alberta where he was appointed CEO in 2014 following an earlier role as CMO. Under his leadership, Travel Alberta has been recognized for several best corporate culture awards and multiple global marketing awards for the “Remember to Breathe” campaign. Chwin held leadership roles at Destination Canada (known as Canadian Tourism Commission) and has extensive business experience in the private sector with marquee brands.

In Michigan, Holland Area Visitors Bureau has announced the departure of Executive Director Sally Laukitis. During her tenure, Laukitis was the founder of the Visitor Industry Planning Initiative, served as president of both the Michigan Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Tourism Industry Coalition of Michigan, and as Chair of the Michigan Travel Commission. The CVB’s Linda Hart will fill the role on an interim basis.

Former Gov. Carl Gutierrez has been tapped to lead the Guam Visitors Bureau for at least 90 days. GVB has put together a presidential search committee following the departure of President and CEO Pilar Laguana from May 30. A board member stressed the importance of finding someone who has experience with the Asia-Pacific region.

Kevin Mayer, the chairman of Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming division, has resigned from the company to lead TikTok as CEO of the social video app. The streaming division is the only Disney growth area during the pandemic, says Adweek. During the quarantine, there’s been new interest in TikTok, which allows users to shoot and edit short videos set to music. Comscore says the app brought in 23.2 million mobile unique visitors in February and 28.8 million in March before skyrocketing to 39.2 million in April.

Rebecca Campbell, a 23-year Disney veteran who was most recently president of Disneyland and Resort, will immediately succeed Mayer as chairman of direct-to-consumer and international. The division has operational control of Hulu and has seen Disney+ surpass 54 million subscribers in five months.

Josh D’Amaro is named Disney Parks, Experiences and Products chairman. D’Amaro will oversee Disney’s travel and leisure businesses, including theme parks in the U.S. and abroad; Disney Cruise Line; vacation ownership program Disney Vacation Club; and tour operator Adventures by Disney. He will also oversee consumer products, print publishing, Disney store locations and e-commerce.

Disney World has canceled all reservations for the first week of June after previously accepting bookings. The Orlando resort had been accepting new reservations for dates starting June 1, stoking rumors that a reopening was imminent, but bookings for June 1 through June 6 have now been canceled, reports People magazine. The park and resort are now taking future reservations for travel dates July 1 and later. Read more here.

Good news from Colorado as lawmakers revive the state’s tourism marketing budget that had come under threat earlier this month. The Colorado Sun reports, “The tourism industry rallied last week after committee staff recommended eliminating 87% of the state’s tourism budget. The industry pointed to the 1990s, when Colorado eliminated tourism marketing and the state lost as much as $2 billion a year in visitor spending. On Friday, the beleaguered committee approved about a 47% cut in funding for the tourism office. The proposed budget needs approval from state lawmakers who convene later this month.” To get the facts and figures plus comments from Cathy Ritter, director of Colorado Tourism Office, read more here.

NYC & Company has created a 24-member tourism and hospitality coalition of leaders to steer the city, focusing on messaging, marketing and promotion to restore New York City’s brand locally and beyond. President and CEO Fred Dixon said, “It will be hyperlocal to begin with. We want to re-engage New Yorkers with their own city. Doing so will send a message to the world that New York has reopened itself to tourism.”

Mall of America announced it will reopen retail stores beginning June 1. The largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America will partially reopen in compliance with Minnesota’s new safety protocols, operating at maximum 50% of capacity. Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau has more details here.

Utah’s “Mighty 5” National Parks are re-opening in phases. Bryce Canyon National Park and Capitol Reef National Park are open. Zion National Park began its partial daytime only re-opening last week. Visitor Centers remain closed and shuttles are not running, so entry is limited to the number of parking spaces available, while some trails with handrails remain closed. Arches and Canyonlands will follow on May 29. Information is updated daily on the Travel Utah website. A status rundown of all 62 U.S. national parks is found here.

Several takeaways from this week’s wave of American consumer sentiment on travel.

Longwoods International tracking study indicates 52% of Americans say their first trip will be to visit friends and family domestically, when it’s appropriate to travel again. Americans are still very much divided about welcoming visitors back: 31% in favor and 45% against. And only about a third of Americans indicate they feel comfortable dining in restaurants, while almost half say they are not comfortable in doing so.

MMGY Travel Intelligence on behalf of the U.S. Travel Association found just 36% of U.S. travelers intend to take a domestic leisure trip in the next six months; 57% of travelers say that following the pandemic they are more likely to book travel to U.S. destinations. Also, travelers continue to feel safest when traveling by personal vehicle (68%), and when visiting outdoor destinations such as parks (34%) and the beach (26%).

Destination Analysts find that American travelers are opening back up to attending conferences and conventions, with 64.5% expressing trust the host organizations of these events to look out for their health. Travel planning responses show 64.1% of American travelers who have one or more trips at least tentatively planned this year, seven-in-ten have taken some deliberate action towards their very next trip. Marketing could be effective in swaying travelers to choose a specific destination as over half are still not fully decided on where they will go on their next trip or weekend getaway.

Sparkloft Media has found that online conversations continue with a focus on the economy, employment and unemployment. People have been most concerned by their personal livelihoods and providing for their families. Americans are reverting back to tactics seen during historic recessions to save money, to become more independent from institutions and to entertain themselves during difficult times.

Air Canada will lay off at least 20,000 workers, more than half of its 38,000 employees on June 7. Management wrote, “…it is our current expectation that it will take at least three years to recover to 2019 levels of revenue and capacity. We expect that both the overall industry and our airline will be considerably smaller for some time, which will unfortunately result in significant reductions in both fleet and employee levels.” Next quarter, the company will reduce its booking capacity by 85%.

Uber will close 45 offices and cut 3,000 jobs in a second round of layoffs, less than two weeks after slashing 3,700 positions. Additional cuts mean that about a quarter of its positions have been eliminated in less than a month. Reports indicate that Uber’s bookings have plunged 80% from one year ago.

From May 18, drivers and riders must wear face masks and coverings in an effort to stop the spread of the disease. Unlike riders, drivers are be required to verify that they’re wearing face masks before accepting a booking. Also, riders are required to sit in the back seat.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean says no more buffets when operations start up again. RCL is currently under a CDC mandate of an indefinite no-sail order for ships with more than 250 passengers and crew.

The world’s largest cruise company, Carnival Corporation, incorporating Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Seabourn, and Princess Cruises, has announced hundreds of layoffs in Florida, California and Washington. The cuts are said to total nearly half its entire workforce.

The Miami Herald reports, “When combined with furloughs announced at Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. last month, some 2,000 jobs have now been shelved in the region’s $6 billion cruise industry. And the job losses are likely to have a ripple effect…thousands of secondary-industry employers that work with cruise companies, including caterers and cleaning firms, are likely to be affected.”

Condé Nast will pink-slip about 100 employees in the U.S. and is putting another 100 on unpaid leave for several months as the pandemic crisis cuts into the media company’s business. The group’s titles include CN Traveler, New Yorker, Wired, Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ, for about 6,000 employees worldwide in 2020 BC* [*before Covid].

A reminder: Zoom has launched version 5.0 as an upgrade to combat security flaws that resulted in “Zoombombing” incidents. The partial company statement: “System-wide account enablement of AES-256-bit GCM encryption will occur on May 30, 2020. and only Zoom clients on version 5.0 or later, including Zoom Rooms, will be able to join Zoom Meetings starting that day.”

World Federation of Advertisers says the timeframe for deferral of ad campaigns is increasing; delays are likely to last much longer than previously planned. Research indicates 52% of large multinationals surveyed say they will now hold back ad spend for six months or more, compared to just 19% taking similar medium-term action in March.

Research indicates 52% of large multinationals surveyed say they will now hold back ad spend for six months or more, compared to just 19% taking similar medium-term action in March. The squeeze will be felt during the first half of 2020, projections are: TV (down 33%), print (down 37%), out of home (down 49%) and events (down 56%). In digital: online video (down 7%), online display (down 14%). Other channels: radio (down 25%), point of sale (down 23%) and influencer (down 22%).

Facebook says Giphy will become part of the Instagram team, making it even easier to send GIFs and stickers in Instagram stories and direct messages.

Why did Facebook acquire Giphy? Some say it isn’t about the large library of animated images known as GIFs, but that it is about peeking deep inside competitors. Giphy is integrated into some of the internet’s most popular apps and services.

Following last week’s $400 million acquisition, user privacy and antitrust alarm bells have been ringing because social media and messaging services like Twitter, Tinder, Slack, Signal, Pinterest, Reddit, TikTok and iMessage already have Giphy integrated into their apps or rely on Giphy’s API for supplying them. Now Facebook gets the data on those API calls, which gives them insight into what people are using beyond Facebook.

A bonus? Since 50% of Giphy’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, including Instagram, perhaps Facebook made the acquisition to prevent anyone else from getting a look inside its own ecosystem. (P.S. Could these platforms simply switch to Tenor? Hmm, Google owns Tenor.)

Clayton Reid, CEO, MMGY Global: ‘Looking Past This Crisis – The FutureState of Travel’

March 31, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

“The world is on pause.

Your planning doesn’t have to be.”

MMGY’s CEO says 2020 could be the year of car travel. (photo: Addison YC, flickr 2.0)

A commentary from Clayton Reid, CEO, MMGY Global:

“There is no such thing as a post-COVID-19 world. Already, the pandemic has impacted how we will live, work and travel long after the threat has passed. CEO Clayton Reid looks beyond the crisis to project how traveler behavior will shift, and how brands can leverage both short-term marketing strategies and long-term planning.”

“MMGY Global’s base case for recovery is entirely focused on consumer mentality (something we are measuring weekly), in what we believe will be the four phases of societal mindset. As we all move through these phases, it will allow us permission to spend, travel and commune again.”

Click here to read Clayton’s complete analysis.

Forecast: International Inbound Arrivals 2020

January 14, 2020 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment

Inbound Report observes, “An acquaintance of ours who was a fairly respectable and competitive distance runner back in the 1980s and 1990s once joked that his strategy for running a race was this: ‘I start slow, then taper off.’

So it was in 2019 for the inbound travel and tourism industry of the United States. It started slow and proceeded to taper off.”

Metaphors aside, for a detailed rundown and analysis on where we’ve been and where we’re going, with a country-by-country breakdown of top origin markets, there’s nowhere better to go than the 23rd Annual Outlook Report of Overseas Source Markets plus Canada & Mexico from our sister trade publication, Inbound Report.

Click here for the top 15 plus Canada and Mexico.

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