Survey shows rise in minority travel

By Dale K. Dupont
Knight Ridder News Service

•	On the Web: Minority travel For more information on the Travel Industry Association of America study, which was based on a survey of 300,000 households, see www.tia.org.

Hispanic travel volume rose 20 percent from 2000 to 2002, Asian-American volume was up 10 percent, and black numbers were up 4 percent, according to The Minority Traveler report released last week. U.S. travel in general grew 2 percent over the same period.

"This is one of the big, emerging markets in the travel and tourism industry," said TIA spokeswoman Cathy Keefe. The report — TIA's third on the minority market — is designed to show where opportunities for growth are, she said.

Minority travelers in 2002 accounted for $90 billion of the total $462 billion in total domestic spending on travel.

The growth in many ways tracks U.S. population changes, TIA noted. And many travel patterns are the same. But TIA found that minority travelers are more likely than the average traveler to rent a car, attend cultural events or festivals, participate in nightlife activities and gamble as a form of recreation.

Keefe said car rental rates may be higher because many of the travelers live in cities where they don't need a car.

Among the findings:

• The most popular cities for Asian Americans are Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
• The three favorite cities for blacks are Atlanta, Orlando, Fla., and Washington.
• The top three cities for Hispanics are Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Antonio.
• The primary theme for Hispanics is family, so that group is more likely than average to visit theme parks on their vacation.
• Hispanic travelers tend to be between 18-44, while the average age for travelers overall is 47.
• Blacks are more likely than the average to travel to destinations in the South.