ST. LOUIS, MO--(Marketwire - June 2, 2010) - Local residents plan to take more summer trips, but will stay closer to home and spend about the same amount as last year, according to the second annual summer travel poll conducted by AAA Missouri.
On their first trip of the summer, local residents are more likely to be taking trips within the state (19 percent this year vs. 11 percent in 2009), more likely to be staying just three days or less (39 percent this year vs. 34 percent last year), more likely to be traveling with three or more people (28 percent in 2010 compared to 23 percent in 2009), and less likely to be taking their trip for a special occasion (35 percent this year vs. 44 percent last year), according to the survey.
In all, 92 percent of the AAA Missouri members who participated in the poll said they plan to take at least one overnight trip this summer, slightly higher than the 91 percent who took trips in 2009. Of those traveling this summer, 69 percent plan to drive to their first summer destination -- close to last year's 70 percent.
Forty percent of those polled said they would take three or more trips this summer -- a six percent increase from 34 percent in 2009.
Vacation spending for the first trip of this summer is almost identical to last summer, with 66 percent both this year and last year expecting to spend less than $1,000.
"We are seeing more members booking more vacations in the offices, but they continue to be more budget-minded and value-seeking than prior to the recession," said Mike Right, AAA Missouri vice president for public affairs. "Based on the fact that we're seeing increased numbers of people traveling together, big family trips could be making a comeback."
The top method cited by survey takers for saving money this summer on travel and other entertainment was searching for specials and discounts (46 percent), followed by choosing less expensive entertainment options (35 percent), staying closer to home (34 percent), spending more time with family and friends (31 percent) and spending more time at home (27 percent).* The top method among those polled for seeking out discounts for vacation trips was looking in local area guides and magazines (73 percent), followed by using coupons (66 percent), and using AAA discount tools such as the AAA.com website, AAA Traveler magazine, or the AAA Discounts iPhone app (60 percent).*
"This survey revealed that 76 percent of polled travelers seek out coupons or discounts at least sometimes as a factor in deciding which attractions, restaurants, and/or retailers to visit while on vacation," Right said. "Because of this increased consumer interest, we have seen more visits to the discount portion of our website, and the AAA Discounts free iPhone app is one of the most popular 'lifestyle' apps out there, with more than 814,000 downloads nationwide to date."
The top state destination for local travelers is Missouri, where 17.6 percent of travelers plan to go on their first vacation of the summer compared to 10.7 percent who traveled within the state on last year's first summer trip. Top city destinations for the first trip of the summer are Branson (4.3 percent vs. 3.5 percent in 2009), St. Louis (4.1 percent this year vs. less than 2 percent in 2009) and Chicago (3.1 percent vs. 5.8 percent in 2009).
In choosing and planning their trip, 48 percent of those surveyed relied on recommendations from friends and family, followed by 33 percent who looked at AAA Diamond, star or online ratings for hotels, and 28 percent who researched travel guide books such as AAA TourBooks.*
The Internet was cited as the top method to choose which attractions, restaurants and/or retailers to visit while on vacation (83 percent), followed by family/friend recommendations (58 percent), guide books (53 percent) and local area magazines at the destination (42 percent).
For all those polled, whether they planned to take a vacation or not, the most popular entertainment activity cited for spending money this summer was dining out and nightlife (78 percent), followed by going to the movies (54 percent), attending live shows (43 percent), pursuing a hobby (39 percent), visiting attractions such as theme parks or zoos (38 percent), attending live sports events (37 percent), visiting museums (32 percent), doing a family activity like miniature golf or laser tag (27 percent), and visiting fairs (25 percent),.
The AAA Missouri summer travel survey was conducted online from April 27 to May 3 by the AAA Missouri Marketing Research Department, and was taken by 360 AAA Missouri members in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and portions of southern Illinois, Indiana and Kansas. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.7 percent.
*This was the first year this question was asked in the summer travel poll, so there are no comparisons available for 2009.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Mike Right
(314) 523-7350 ext. 6300