Value will remain in vogue as leisure business picks up

Although demand for business travel services is expected to improve as the economy rebounds, credit becomes more readily available and job losses abate, the recovery is likely to accelerate individual versus group demand for lodging. Individual business travelers will be the first to hit the road again, while meeting, convention and incentive group planners remain cautious about booking off-site meetings, particularly in venues that appear a bit too indulgent.

As revealed in a national survey of meeting planners conducted for the PCMA Education Foundation and American Express during the second quarter of 2009, fully 44 percent of professional planners expect to host fewer off-site meetings in 2010 than they did in 2009. So 2010 looks like another year in which demand from leisure travelers will provide the real upside potential.

The results of our October 2009 Travelhorizons survey, the quarterly survey of 2,200 U.S. adults co-authored by Ypartnership and the U.S. Travel Assn., confirm this and suggest that “value” will remain in vogue in 2010. According to the survey, 53 percent of households are planning at least one leisure trip between now and April 2010, down slightly from the 56 percent who stated the same intention in October 2008.

Interestingly, the most significant decline in expected trips is among Gen X and Gen Y, while the incidence of leisure trips taken by Boomers is expected to increase. And among those who plan to travel, the average number of leisure trips during the next six months is expected to move up to 3.7 from 2.8 in October 2008.

Only 18 percent of adults are planning at least one business trip prior to April 2010, however. This is essentially the same incidence recorded last July (17 percent). Expectations with respect to the average number of business trips provide some encouragement, as this number has increased steadily throughout the year, rising from an average of 3.3 in April to 4.8 in October. This average is being driven up by a relatively small percentage of the overall population of business travelers though: only 6 percent intend to take “more business trips” during the next six months, and fully one of our four (24 percent) expect to take “fewer business trips.”