Weak Travel Trends Expected in 2010

Americans aren’t likely to travel anymore in 2010 than they did this year, according to a new USA Today poll.

Only 16 percent of respondents plan to fly more or stay more often in hotels next year than in 2009, and 30 percent said they would fly less frequently and plan fewer hotel stays because of the weak economy.

Industry analysts think the slowly improving economy will increase demand for airline tickets, rental cars and convention business next year, but any improvement is measured against the recession-ravaged 2009, the news magazine said.

Demand for most travel services won’t return to pre-recession levels in the foreseeable future, travel agency American Express said.
Many airlines have reported a year-over-year rise in demand for seats every month since May.

However, occupancy and room rates aren’t expected to show much improvement.

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ US lodging forecast shows hotel occupancy in the nation fell to 55.2 percent in 2009 compared to its high of 63.6 percent in 2006. It’s expected to be 55.8 percent in 2010.

As for the convention business, a modest increase in demand is expected next year, although 40 percent of all corporate and association off-site meetings are expected to be cancelled or postponed through the end of 2010, according to the article.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.