WASHINGTON — Despite signs of a worsening economy, about 70 percent of Americans intend to take a leisure trip in the next six months — but travelers are looking for bargains and other ways to cut costs, according to an annual forecast from a major travel industry group.

For Hawai'i, that means limited opportunities for the tourism industry to grow with the forecast showing American travelers limiting the length of trips to save money, and foreign tourists and business travelers staying home, according to the forecast.

While the number of people taking vacations is about the same as last year's survey, tourists are shopping for travel differently to try to find good values, according to the survey.

"Consumers are responding as we might expect during an economic slowdown," said Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research for the Travel Industry Association.

The annual study predicted that leisure travel would remain stable this year with a drop of only 0.2 percent and decline by 1.3 percent in 2009.

A survey by the Travel Industry Association and Ypartnership, an advertising and public relations agency, found that 48 percent of respondents said they were not planning any changes to future travel plans because of the recent financial turmoil.

"The results corroborate what we have been preaching now for several months: American travelers are trading down but not out," said Peter Yesawich, chairman of Ypartnership.

Hawai'i's recent tourism drop could be attributed to the cutbacks travelers are making, Yesawich said.

The Hawai'i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism estimated that visitors to the Islands would decline by more than half a million this year to 7.12 million from a 2007 peak of 7.63 million. They also are expected to spend about $11.99 billion, down $820 million from $12.81 billion last year.

"People are saying they would still love to go to Hawai'i because ... that is still the No. 1 dream destination for Americans," he said. "But what happens is that instead of being a seven-night trip, it may be a five-night trip or they may have to pick an alternate destination because of the financial considerations."

Hawai'i tourism also is being hurt by the reduction in the number of air flights from the Mainland.

"You put the two of those together and as a result of that, you see some pretty constrained numbers certainly in Hawai'i right now," Yesawich said.

The travel industry survey found that bargain shopping and penny-pinching are two primary methods Americans planning to take a vacation are doing while coping with the slowing economy.

The survey found that 76 percent of tourists expect to book a packaged vacation to save money and 58 percent plan to comparison shop on the Internet. About 67 percent said they would stay fewer nights to save money and a comparable percentage will spend less on food, beverages and entertainment.

The travel industry should not look to international tourists or business travelers to help make up their lost receipts, according to the forecast.

Overseas travel to the United States is expected to decline by 3 percent and grow slowly after that, according to the forecast.

Business travel also is expected to decline by 2.7 percent next year on top of a 3.6 percent drop this year. Business and convention travel volume is expected to begin to recover with a 2 percent increase in 2010, according to the survey.

The forecast was based on interviews conducted with 2,291 adults during the week of Oct. 13, according to the Travel Industry Association and Ypartnership.