A new national survey has revealed that fully 53% of active leisure travelers say their travel plans would change if the price of gasoline reaches $3.50 per gallon.
Among them, 26% say they would "drive a shorter distance on vacation." An additional 26% say they would "save money on other aspects of their vacation." Fifteen percent (15%) say they would fly instead of drive to their destination. But in some encouraging news for the travel industry, only 19% say they would actually cancel their trip.
The results were taken from a nationally-projectable survey of adult leisure travelers who are planning to take a "drive vacation" with their personal automobile or a rental car during the next six months. Respondents were interviewed during the week of September 12, 2005.
Other survey highlights include:
Respondents were planning to drive an average of 582 miles on their next "drive vacation;"
Twenty five percent were planning to drive a mid-sized sedan, 20% an SUV, 14% an economy car, 11% a pickup truck, and 10% a full-sized sedan;
Five percent were planning to drive a recreational vehicle or pull a towable RV;
One-third (33%) of respondents indicated their travel plans would change if gasoline were to reach $3.25 per gallon, and an additional 20% indicated the same at a price of $3.50 per gallon;
Only 14% of respondents indicated their plans would not change regardless of the price of gasoline;
When asked about the price of gasoline at which they would cancel their "drive vacation," 13% cited $3.25 per gallon, an additional 13% stated $3.50 per gallon, another 8% cited $3.75 per gallon, and an additional 20% stated $4.00 per gallon;
46% of respondents indicated they expect the price of gasoline to decrease during the next six months; 35% expect it to increase, and 19% expect it to stay the same;
When asked about the other activities in which they were less likely to participate as a result of rising gasoline prices, 56% said "dine out," 47% said "go to the movies," 41% said "buy clothes or buy gifts," and 26% said "spend more of my budget for other ordinary living expenses;"
"The results of this survey are consistent with a similar survey we conducted last year," said Peter C. Yesawich, Chairman & CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell, the marketing services firm that authored the work. "Specifically, although people are likely to change some aspect of their travel plans if the cost of gas continues to rise, very few are likely to actually cancel a trip. This obviously comes as very good news for the domestic travel industry."
Respondents were 50% male, 50% female, and all were active leisure travelers over 18 years of age. All estimates are accurate to within +/- 4% at the 95% level of confidence.
Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell is America's leading marketing, advertising and public relations agency specializing in serving clients in the travel and leisure industries and co-author's the highly-regarded National Travel Monitor(TM) with Yankelovich Partners. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the agency maintains additional offices across the United States and Europe.
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