HONOLULU, HI--(Marketwire - June 2, 2010) - Local travelers will be spending more money on their vacations than last year and are also more likely to travel out of state than in 2009, and their vacation plans this summer closely resemble those of 2008, according to the third annual summer travel poll conducted by AAA Hawaii.
On their first trip of the summer, Hawaii residents are more to visit another U.S. state or country than during the past two years (80 percent this year vs. 68 percent in 2009 and 75 percent in 2008), more likely to be concerned about cost as a major factor in planning the trip (75 percent this year vs. 67 percent in 2009 and 68 percent in 2008), and more likely to take trips with three or more other people (28 percent this year vs. 22 percent in 2009 and 23 percent in 2008), according to the survey.
In all, 78 percent of the AAA Hawaii members who participated in the poll said they plan to take at least one overnight trip this summer, higher than the 75 percent who took at least one trip in 2009 and similar to the 77 percent in 2008 who took at least one summer vacation.
Sixty-seven percent of those polled said they would take either one or two trips this summer, up from 62 percent who took that many trips last year but almost the same as the 68 percent who took one or two summer trips in 2008.
Seventy-seven percent of travelers plan to spend more than $1,000 on their first vacation of the summer, up from 68 percent in 2009 and 74 percent in 2008.
"After cutting back on travel last year, our members are becoming more willing to take those out-of-state vacations, and are also traveling with a greater number of people, which can help keep per-person costs lower," said Chris Olvera, AAA Hawaii acting regional manager.
The top method cited by survey takers for saving money this summer on travel and other entertainment was searching for specials and discounts (43 percent), spending more time at home (35 percent), staying closer to home (33 percent), spending more time with family and friends (30 percent), and choosing less expensive entertainment options (28 percent).* The top method among those polled for seeking out discounts for vacation trips was looking in local area guides and magazines (79 percent), followed by using coupons (65 percent), and using AAA discount tools such as the AAA.com website, AAA Hawaii magazine, or the AAA Discounts iPhone app (61 percent).*
"This survey revealed that 75 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," said Denise Bialek, AAA Discounts program manager. "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 residents' first summer, according to the poll, is California (23.9 percent this year vs. 17.7 percent in 2009 and an almost identical 23.8 percent in 2008). Top city destinations are Las Vegas (13.3 percent this year vs. 13 percent last year and 13.5 percent in 2008), followed by San Francisco (3.9 percent this year compared to 3.5 percent in 2009 and 2.6 percent in 2008) and Honolulu (3.7 percent this year vs. 3.2 percent in both 2009 and 2008). The top foreign destinations are Asian countries (4.6 percent this year compared to 2.4 percent last year and 4.2 percent in 2008).
In choosing and planning their trip, 57 percent of those surveyed relied on recommendations from friends and family, followed by 52 percent who looked at AAA Diamond, star or online ratings for hotels, and 31 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 (84 percent), followed by family/friend recommendations (76 percent), guide books (54 percent) and local area magazines at the destination (48 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 (70 percent), followed by going to the movies (57 percent), pursuing a hobby (40 percent), attending live shows (35 percent), visiting attractions (32 percent), visiting museums (26 percent), going to fairs (21 percent), attending live sports events (20 percent), and doing a family activity like miniature golf or laser tag (230percent).*
The AAA Hawaii summer travel survey was conducted online from April 27 to May 3 by the AAA Hawaii Marketing Research Department, and was taken by nearly 300 members in the state and a total of 2,300 AAA members around the country. It has a margin of error of +/- 5.5 percent.
*This was the first year this question was asked in the summer travel poll, so there are no comparisons available for 2008 and 2009.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Marie Montgomery
(714) 885-2333
Chris Olvera
(808) 529-5000