Maritz Survey Projects Steep Decline in Holiday Season Travel

Maritz Survey Projects Steep Decline in Holiday Season Travel
By James Shillinglaw

A new Maritz Research poll is projecting a significant decline in holiday travel compared to last year, with just 21 percent of Americans planning to travel this holiday season, compared to 28 percent in 2010.

These numbers indicate the sharpest decline in the Maritz poll’s seven-year history, with a record low 11 percent planning to travel for Thanksgiving and only 16 percent planning to travel for the winter holidays.

This decline amounts to approximately eight million fewer households traveling this year compared to last year, with a projected $8.96 billion loss to the travel industry.

The survey also found that, similar to the 2009 poll results, 31 percent of those not traveling indicated that finances played a role in the decision to stay home, with 20 percent citing finances as a ‘major reason’ for not traveling. In addition, 31 percent said a member of their household had either lost a job in the past year (13 percent) or went through an extensive period of unemployment within the past three years (18 percent).

The only positive economic indicator is that, unlike the year 2009, when the economic downturn caused both travel incidence and financial spend to decline, this year those traveling intend to spend a nearly identical amount to what travelers spent last year. In addition, the average spend on a holiday vacation is up to $1,227.36 in 2011 from $1,202.84 in 2010 and $853.96 in 2009.

In addition, while gas prices remain high across the U.S., the airline industry’s challenges including higher fares, fewer flights, and the increased hassle of airport security show that far more Americans are looking to the “road trip” for holiday travel.

This year only 16 percent of Thanksgiving travelers are flying, representing a 3 percent decline from last year’s 19 percent. For Thanksgiving, 82 percent are driving and as the weather worsens for the winter holidays, the proportion of those driving narrows to 63 percent compared to 33 percent flying. This represents a much larger gap than indicated in previous years, such as 2005 when the proportion of those driving was 53 percent compared to 44 percent flying.