Destination Information
Tripology Reveals Winter Travel Trends
By Matt Alderton
October 28, 2011
Meeting planners in search of the latest destination trends should consider findings from Tripology's "Third Quarter Travel Trend Report," released yesterday.
The report provides information on the top requested leisure travel destinations for winter 2012, which could give meeting planners insight into attendees' most desirable locales. Key findings:
• The top five most requested countries since January 2011 have been: the United States, Mexico, Italy, the Bahamas and Jamaica.
• The top five most requested cities for the third quarter in a row are: Las Vegas, Orlando, Cancun, Miami and Honolulu.
• The top 10 most requested U.S. cities are: Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami, Honolulu, Maui, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and Boston.
• The demand for travel to Asia increased each month during the third quarter of 2011.
• Paris and Rome show enduring popularity for travelers to Western Europe.
• The most requested Caribbean winter travel destination is Punta Cana.
In addition, Tripology — an online travel referral service from Rand McNally — found that the average consumer budget has risen to $5,710 per trip, up from $5,239 in the first quarter of 2011; that consumers are now booking trips 130 days out; and that the most popular winter trip length is three to four days, with over 76 percent of travelers booking trips of fewer than eight days.
"Overall our 'Third Quarter Trend Report' reveals a positive outlook for the winter travel season, as consumers continue to increase their trip budgets as well as their advanced planning of trips during this time of the year," said John T. Peters, vice president and general manager of Digital Strategy and Travel at Rand McNally. "Because these trends show that consumers are spending more money and time planning their winter vacations compared to the summer and fall months, it also suggests that a greater number of consumers are currently seeking out the expertise and services of travel professionals to help them maximize their winter trip budgets and plan truly memorable vacations that they are willing to spend a little extra money on."
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