Economy's woes cut leisure travel
Bloomberg News Service
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This time last year, the American Automobile Association of North Carolina had sold 70 trips to Peru and China at as much as $5,000 each. So far in 2001, only half as many have booked comparable trips.
Customers of the auto club's travel agency instead plan to take shorter vacations this year and stick closer to home as a slowing economy and falling stock prices cut into spending. That means four-day cruises instead of seven-day excursions, European travel by bus rather than car, drives to nearby national parks.
"You got to fulfill a lot of travel fantasies" in the past year, said Tom Crosby, a spokesman for the American Automobile Association of the Carolinas, based in Charlotte. "Now it's people saying, 'Gee, I'd like to go to Africa, but instead I'll fly out to the Grand Canyon.' "
Those plans are important to Northwest Airlines Corp., UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines Inc., which have already reported a decline in business travel. Hotel operators such as Host Marriott Corp., cruise lines such as Carnival Corp. and theme park operators such as Six Flags Inc. also are watching leisure travel plans.
Four of the 10 most popular international destinations this year are in Mexico or the Caribbean, displacing cities in Europe or Asia, a survey by the American Society of Travel Agents found. Only 41.6 percent of U.S. households plan to take a vacation in the next six months, the lowest share since 1980, a survey by the New York-based Conference Board found last month.
Camping alternative
Americans spent more than $81 billion on travel last year, based on Labor Department statistics. This year's level will depend on decisions by people like 33-year-old Gretchen Coombs.
The Oakland, Calif., resident and doctoral student in anthropology earned $75 an hour doing part-time writing for corporate Web sites last year. She saved enough for a three-month research and vacation trip to India.
Because computer networking clients are spending less, she expects to go camping along the northern California coast rather taking a two-month research trip to Guinea and Mali starting in June.
"I don't have enough money to pay for a trip to West Africa," she said.
At Europleasure Travel, a Bradenton, Fla., agency that books custom-planned European tours, owner Peter Bernet was expecting business to grow 60 percent this year. He solicited customers through targeted mailings and a kiosk in a local mall.
Trouble signs
Business has grown half that much, as customers who lost money in the stock market canceled trips. Those who still intend to travel are finding ways to save, such as reserving seats on tour buses instead of hiring cars, Bernet said.
Still, for stressed-out Americans whose hard work has contributed to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, leisure travel has become an entitlement.
"Americans consider it their God-given right to take a vacation," said Bryan Maher, a travel industry analyst at Credit Lyonnais in New York. "If you have layoffs, that means more time a person can spend on vacation as long as he's saved up some money over the years."
