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Travel experts: Nothing will deter Americans' travel plans
By LaTrina White
(CNN) -- Despite a sluggish economy, fear of SARS and threats of terrorism, travel industry experts project Americans will take more than 270 million leisure trips this summer, a 2.5 percent increase over last year. "It is almost an American thing that we work very hard, and we have a lot of stress in our lives .... We all pretty much feel that we need to have our time away," said Sandra Hughes, vice president of the American Automobile Association (AAA). Travelers who remain defiant in the face of health, employment and security anxieties are buoying the hopes of people in the travel industry. The travel professionals have noted a steady uptick in leisure travel and they hope the trend signals the onset of recovery for a business bashed by concerns over terrorism and the economy. Travelers are determined, but they are not clueless. They have noted the economic conditions and made adjustments, according to a survey by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).
The TIA says the survey found that vacationers have cut their travel time from last year, making their longest trip about eight nights. "Travelers continue to watch their pennies, planning to spend an average of $1,055 on their longest pleasure trip," the TIA reported, about the same as last summer but down almost 10 percent since 2001. "Really, the economy is the largest factor that's out there," said Justin McNaull, an AAA public relations manager. To compensate for a weak economy, vacationers are spending more time researching their retreats to cut costs and, experts said, they are staying closer to home. "Americans like to travel in their own country, and there is much to do here. We're like a country of countries. We don't need to go anywhere," said Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research and technology at TIA. Families like Margaret Barrineau's, from Atlanta, Georgia, have chosen to remain stateside for almost 30 years. "It's just a way for all of us to keep close. There's an awful lot of us. ... I don't know what we would do if we didn't go on one of these [vacations]." Each summer, almost two dozen members of the growing Barrineau clan rent a seven-bedroom beachfront home with a screened-in porch in Litchfield Beach, South Carolina. This year, 20 members of the eight-sibling family are making the trek. And they know how to economize. "We always go the week before summer season," Barrineau said. "I don't know the exact difference but it's probably a good $700 or $800 difference just going one week before." Prudent travelers don't have to search far to find good deals. "They've got a very favorable climate for the travel costs," Cook said. "Airline fares are down, room rates [are down], gasoline prices fortunately have come down, so I think it's easier for a traveler to economize in this environment." Hotels are doling out deals too, with many offering packages for families traveling with children, said Tia Gordon, spokeswoman for the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
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