Are Americans Traveling this Summer?

2008 brought us $4 gas, the first rumblings of a tough economy and the dreadful media focus on ‘staycations.’

What’s in store for 2009?

Check out the following article from AdWeek: Where Will Folks Spend Their Summer Vacations? Author Mark Dolliver reviews the latest polls, industry trends & the impact of aggressive discounting, and ‘nearcations’.

In addition, PhoCusWright.com offers this advice for businesses to “plan smart during the recession”:

1. Plan for each phase of the business cycle.
2. If you discount, do so carefully so you can preserve brand value and price opportunities when recovery comes.
3. Do not over-allocate marketing budgets to promotion versus image advertising

Read the full article here for more on each of the above tips.

Economic Impact of Wisconsin’s Travel Industry

Last week the Wisconsin Dept of Tourism released the 2008 Economic Impact data for Wisconsin’s tourism industry.  You can download the full report, County by County data and regional reports from their site here.

For national economic impact research information, the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Information Center has compiled the following resources:
“The U.S. Travel Association (formerly Travel Industry Association – TIA) has posted results from their 2008 Impact of Travel on State Economies report on The Power of Travel Website:  www.poweroftravel.org.  The Website is jam-packed with useful figures on travel spending, tax receipts, employment, and payroll on the state level and congressional district level.

Another valuable (and free) resource providing hard data on the industry is Ernst & Young’s U.S. 2009 lodging report which includes detailed analysis of 17 major cities, lodging chain segments and a global and U.S. lodging industry overview.  Essays on the credit crunch, financing, mixed use projects, and the effect of President Obama’s stimulus package on the lodging industry are also included.

Finally, if you haven’t checked it yet,  STR Global (formerly Smith Travel Research) is now providing more data and analysis “up front” and available to the public through their news website called Hotel News Now.”

Hoteliers Hint at Better Times Ahead

The 2009 Hunter Investment Conference wrapped up Tuesday, March 17th and this HotelInteractive.com article details a shift in attitudes seen among attendees.

Here are some quotes from the article:

• “We will get through this [downturn].  This is a profitable industry and it is a growth industry globally.  It will be hard to keep us down.”  Jim Anhut – InterContinental Hotel Group
• “You have to remain vigilant because there will be great opportunity presenting itself to you and you have to be ready.”  Nancy Johnson – Carlson Hotels Worldwide
• “…yes, we have issues, but the sky is not falling and is unlikely to fall. We have been through times of dramatic change and the hotel business has never gone back to where it was before. When we come out of this it’ll be a different normal. But that’s OK. We will always be adapting to the future with new products, markets and ways to attract and manage customers and business.”   Peggy Berg – The Highland Group

Also, Jan Freitag of Smith Travel Research “cautioned against discounting” saying “Discounting not only hurts in the moment but hurts for a very long time afterward.  Think about what you are saying to a customer on what a room is worth.”

What do you think?  Are you optimistic about the opportunities the economy has presented?