Abstract
While the summer vacation is common across age groups and race/ethnicity, the winter holiday traveler has a more distinct demographic profile, skewing towards older adults, the affluent, and couples. This Mintel report explores in greater detail which consumers are more likely to take winter vacations, whom they travel with, how they travel, and where they go.
From 2000 to 2005, one in five leisure trips in the U.S. was taken during the winter, according to the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). Summer and spring travel has traditionally accounted for the lion�fs share of leisure trips, but winter holiday travel is slowly but surely growing in popularity. In fact, the number of winter leisure person-trips taken increased by 15% from 2000 to 2005, despite significant obstacles including airline computer failures and work stoppages and harsh winter storms.
Mintel expects that suppliers of travel-related services have the potential to grow their business by molding services to meet the needs of distinct travel groups, as outlined in this report. Mintel�fs finding that the average winter vacation lasts about four days means that suppliers�f messages will need to be compelling to compete for the short amount of time that consumers have for winter travel.
In this report, Mintel clearly identifies the principal external factors driving or curtailing growth. Exclusive consumer research reveals the attitudes, needs and behavior of consumers, with analysis broken down both by demographic characteristics, and by segment.
Six years of specific sales data provide a factual and impartial presentation of the market as a whole. Mintel also evaluates the performance of individual sectors in the market, and provides information about the major companies and brands. Using the SPSS forecasting package, Mintel creates a five-year forecast of U.S. retail sales, revealing potential opportunities for growth and product development.
Table of Contents
- Introduction and Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Other relevant reports
- Definition
- Abbreviations & terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
- Executive Summary
- Winter marks a slowdown in leisure travel
- Household income and presence of children are key factors in likelihood of winter travel
- Travelers aged 55+ growing at a significant rate
- Gay and lesbian consumers have higher disposable incomes, travel more
- Rising energy costs affect some more than others
- Lifestage influences travel companions
- Winter breaks are typically short breaks
- Points in the U.S. top the most popular winter vacation destinations
- Spending time with family and friends is the primary purpose of winter leisure travel
- The average winter vacation costs just over $1,000
- Forecast flat after inflation--about on pace with all other travel
- Market Background
- Trends in number of winter leisure trips taken
- Figure 1: Winter leisure trips and percentage of total leisure trips, 2000-05
- Figure 2: Leisure trips, shares by season, 2000-05
- Trends in age for winter holiday travelers
- Figure 3: U.S. population projections and number of winter holiday travelers, by age, 2001-11
- Overall travel expenditures
- Figure 4: Travel expenditures in the U.S., at current and constant prices, 2000-05
- Gay and lesbian travelers fuel higher travel expenditures in off-season
months
- Figure 5: Disposable income, by racial/ethnic group and GLBT, 2004
- Vacation time
- Figure 6: Employees with access to paid vacation and paid holidays, 1999-2005
- Holidays impact how winter months are spent
- Winter travel gets a bad reputation
- Demographics of Winter Leisure Travelers
- Incidence of taking winter leisure trips
- Figure 7: Incidence of winter leisure travel, April-May 2006
- Household income
- Figure 8: Incidence of seasonal leisure travel, by household income, April-May 2006
- Trends in median household income
- Figure 9: Median household income, 1994-2004
- Figure 10: Distribution of U.S. households, by income, 1999 and 2004
- Traveling with children
- Figure 11: Incidence of seasonal leisure travel, by number of children, April-May 2006
- Marital status
- Figure 12: Incidence of seasonal leisure travel, by marital status, April-May 2006
- Figure 13: Domestic leisure household trips, by traveler type, 2004
- Age
- Figure 14: Incidence of seasonal leisure travel, by age, April-May 2006
- Minority populations
- Figure 15: Incidence of seasonal leisure travel, by race/ethnicity, April-May 2006
- Figure 16: Household income distribution, by race and Hispanic origin of householder, 2003
- Travel companions
- Figure 17: Travel companions for winter leisure trips, April-May 2006
- Figure 18: Travel companions for winter leisure trips, by household type, April-May 2006
- Figure 19: Travel companions for winter leisure trips, by age, April-May 2006
- Figure 20: Travel companions for winter leisure trips, by household income, April-May 2006
- Figure 21: Travel companions for winter leisure trips, by Hispanic origin*, April-May 2006
- Figure 22: Share of historical and projected U.S. population growth, by race/ethnicity, 2000-10
- How Travel is Booked
- Introduction
- Figure 23: Methods of holiday travel booking, October 2005
- Figure 24: Method of booking hotel, airfare, and car rentals, October 2004
- Internet promotes last-minute travel
- Figure 25: Last-minute travel, May 2004
- Reasons for taking last-minute travel
- Figure 26: Reasons for last-minute travel, May 2004
- Metasearchers improve Internet functionality
- Internet use and penetration
- Mode of travel for winter leisure trips
- Overview
- Figure 27: Mode of travel for winter leisure trips, April-May 2006
- Airlines
- Figure 28: Airline passengers (leisure or business) in winter months, 2000-06
- Car rental vs. driving one's own car
- Figure 29: Mode of travel for winter leisure trips, by gender, April-May 2006
- Figure 30: Time will drive before preferring to fly, by age, December 2005
- Figure 31: Time will drive before preferring to fly, by household income, December 2005
- Age
- Figure 32: Mode of travel for winter leisure trips, by age, April-May 2006
- Household income
- Figure 33: Mode of travel for winter leisure trips, by household income, April-May 2006
- Cruises
- Presence of children
- Figure 34: Mode of travel for winter leisure trips, by presence of children, April-May 2006
- Winter Travel Destinations
- Where have they been?
- Figure 35: Domestic and global regional destinations visited, April-May 2006
- Figure 36: Domestic and global regional destinations visited, by household income, April-May 2006
- Figure 37: Domestic and global regional destinations visited, by age, April-May 2006
- Different lifestages mean different destinations
- Figure 38: Top suggested winter destinations, by travel group, 2003
- Length of trip
- Figure 39: Length of winter holiday trips, April-May 2006
- Figure 40: Average length of winter holiday trips, by age, presence of children, race/ethnicity and employment status, April-May 2006
- Trip expenditures
- Figure 41: Expenditure on winter holiday trips, April-May 2006
- Figure 42: Average spend on winter holiday trips, by age, presence of children, race/ethnicity and employment status, April-May 2006
- Trip activities
- Figure 43: Primary purpose of last trip, April-May 2006
- Figure 44: Primary purpose of last trip, by age, April-May 2006
- Travel Lodging
- Incidence of using paid lodging
- Figure 45: Incidence of paid lodging for winter leisure travel, April-May 2006
- Figure 46: Incidence of paid lodging for winter leisure travel, by household income, April-May 2006
- Figure 47: Incidence of paid lodging for winter leisure travel, by household type, April-May 2006
- Figure 48: Incidence of paid lodging for winter leisure travel, by age, April-May 2006
- Hotel rates on the rise
- Figure 49: Hotel occupancy and revenue, 2000-04
- Increase in supply at higher end
- Figure 50: U.S. hotel rooms, distribution by daily rate, 2000-04
- Future and Forecast
- Future trends
- Gap in the market for tailored, trusted advice
- Marketing to women
- Market forecast
- U.S. travel expenditures
- Figure 51: Forecast of total U.S. travel expenditures, at current and constant prices, 2005-10
- Figure 52: Graph: Forecast of total U.S. travel expenditures, at current and constant prices, 2005-10
- Forecast Factors
- Appendix: Trade Associations
