Americans will take 144.5 million pleasure person-trips during March, April and May 2002, a decrease of 4 percent over last spring, according to the Travel Industry Association. A person-trip is one person on one trip traveling 50 miles or more from home, one way.

“Despite the decline in travel this spring, the numbers aren’t as bad as we had feared,” remarked William S. Norman, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association of America. “The good news is that the spring travel forecast is on par with the number of pleasure trips taken in spring 2000, which was a strong season for the travel industry.”

Most spring travel will be for pleasure purposes, with 81 percent planing to travel for pleasure or personal reasons. Nineteen percent plan to travel for business or conventions and nine percent will travel for some other reason.

Among past-year travelers, 15 percent plan to travel more this spring compared to last spring, down from 20 percent last spring. Fifty-one percent plan to travel the same amount this spring and 11 percent plan to travel less this spring. Nineteen percent do not plan to travel at all, up from 14 percent in spring 2001.

Family travel continues to be popular this spring. Spouses (48%) and children/grandchildren (26%) remain the most popular traveling companions for pleasure trips. Fourteen percent expect to travel with friends and 14 percent will travel with other family members. Thirteen percent of spring travelers plan to travel solo. Only two percent say they will travel with their parents and only four percent intend to travel as part of a group.

Source: TIA