Travel World News reported today that US Traveler Sentiment Index (TSI), a measure of future travel intention (in the next 6 mo.), dropped for the 2nd quarter in a row from 78 to 78.
As you would imagine, reasons for not considering a trip related to cost of fuel (52%), travel too expensive (41%) and household budget concerns (37%).
An Emarketer article today covered summer trends in web usage the travel category showed gains for the second consecutive month.
The travel - ground/cruise category jumped 10% to 12.7 million visitors while the travel-information category grew 7% to 47.6 million visitors.
The hotels/resorts category increased 6% to over 34 million visitors. A few of the strongest performers in the category were Hotels.com (up 6% to 5.2 million), Choice Hotels International (up 8% to 3.2 million) and HolidayInn.com (up 11% to 2.7 million).
So, US travelers are actively searching the Internet about travel (more than anything else) but aren’t intending to travel in the next six months due to economic factors. Seems that once the economy is a little less volitile there will be some pent up demand for travel ready to be released. Dosen’t sound like a good time for destinations, hotels, etc. to reduce marketing.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this but you’ve gotta hand it to Shaun White. He is a rock star. Killing it on snow and in skate. Not one, but two, HP ads for back to school. Target line of clothing…
Shaun’s pretty darn Madison-Ave-apple-pie-main-stream and he has gotta be raking in some serious bucks right now (I bet unlike many other xtreme sports folks he has health insurance). You certainly can’t fault him for that… (I still like the Oakley goggles spot best, tho)…
So, when do we begin to see his cellulite and sorrid details of his private affairs on a magazine at the supermarket checkout counter?!?!
In August 2nd issue, NYT reports on musician David Byrne’s bike riding habit and “new” job designing bicycle parking racks for the city. All seems swell for two wheelers.
The August 8th issue of NYT shows the “darker side” of cycling as bikers and motorists jockey for space on the roads. The biker/driver fight that broke out a few weeks ago during a Critical Mass event in Seattle isn’t detailed in the NYT article but is on the bicycle2work2day blog.
If you’re a del.icio.us user, bikehugger has a ton of links to related cycling photos & items including (sadly) a “project” where he collects links to articles on cyclists killed by autos. On the other hand, riding a bicycle is simply fun to do…
Got back recently from a 10 day beach-side vacation. I noticed there were a lot of people riding their bikes. To the store. To the beach. To the post office. You know, kinda like bike commuting…
Why so many ‘bike commuters’ on vacation? This isn’t a new phenomenon. And it isn’t solely due to current gasoline prices. I’ve been visiting the same beach, the same week for the last ten years. Every year it is the same - people on bikes instead of cars going about their business.
Why do people bike commute on vacation? It seems counter-intuitive. You work hard all year long and want to rest on vacation. Wouldn’t vacationers want to relax, sitting comfortably behind the steering wheel, sweat-free in their cool, air conditioned bubble? No hard pedaling. No heavy breathing.
But, no. It seems vacationers want to get outside and ride their bikes. Get fresh air. Listen to the birds chirping. Get a little exercise. Is it that they actually like bicycling? Now, on vacation this activity is relaxing and fun! No rush. No worry. Wind in my hair, acting a bit like a kid, simple fun.
So, why is it then that people cycle more on vacation than at home? I think it has to do with routines and the perception of time and schedules. People are in much more of a rush at home. They don’t think they have the time to actually enjoy a bike ride or commute. We’re all to busy rushing from one thing to the next… We’re on that ‘rushing around’ treadmill that’s hard to get off of…
It is a challenge to commute by bike, no doubt. It takes forethought. It takes a little sweat. It may take some heavy breathing. But, like so many other things in life that are important, the challenge, planning and sweat are a huge part of what makes it worth the effort in the end.
Helmets off to all of you who make the effort and reap the rewards of commuting by bike (even once a week or month)! For those that don’t, give it a try. Maybe just to the store or the library. It’s definitely worth the effort.
An article in an Orlando Sentinel blog last week covered “a brief interview” with Barack Obama on the subject of tourism and promoting the US internationally to increase tourist visits - thereby increasing tourism dollars spent in the US and creating jobs.
Obama’s comment was, “What I’d want to find out is whether or not we can quantify the benefits in some meaningful way.” That makes sense. Why spend money on a tourism promotion program if you don’t know what the outcome will be.
The Senator went on to say, “Money’s tight right now. And there are a lot of potential uses for that money. And I think people know where South Beach is.”
That’s is the comment that got me…”I think people know where South Beach is.” Argh! The thorn in every marketers side. Someone with authority who thinks they know the target audience and what they want.
Maybe the Senator is right. Maybe everyone does know where South Beach is. However, I don’t think that’s true. How can “everyone” in the loosely stated “International” market possibly know where South Beach is? I bet there are millions of Americans who don’t even know where South Beach is…
And does everyone in the world want to go to South Beach anyway? Maybe they’d want to go to the Grand Canyon or the Pacific Ocean or the Everglades or New York City or… you get the idea.
This brings up even more complicated issues regarding international tourism promotion for the good ole’ US-of-A. What would/should be promoted? This is a huge country with seemingly unlimited options for exploring.
Do you think a Senator from Illinois wouldn’t want Chicago promoted internationally? Or the Senator from Arizona wouldn’t want his state’s features promoted? How about Columbus, Ohio? Or Killington, Vermont? Multiply this by 50 states worth of bureaucrats and you see the quagmire…
And don’t forget, each person in each country has a different perception of America, what it has to offer and what they’d like to do on their long holiday.
Hmm, sounds like some targeting and international consumer research needs to be done….which leads us right back to Sen. Obama’s comment on quantifying the outcomes.
MarketingVOX is reporting on the fact that “higher-than-ever gas prices caused 94% of Americans to make lifestyle changes to control costs.” Among those mentioned (that I’m doing too!) are:
82% are making a conscious effort to drive less.
57% are planning their routes more carefully.
24% are walking or biking more.
31% are only partially filling their gas tanks.
62% are dining out less.
The piece also notes that “MapQuest found that 24% of consumers are turning to the internet to search for lower gas prices” and “AOL’s Platform-A Strategic Insights Group, found that 70% of US families planned to get away this summer…(but)…nearly two-thirds of these families had yet to book their summer travel when the survey was conducted in April.”
So who is to blame? “27% believe oil companies are to blame for the continually rising gas prices.” Based on ExxonMobil’s recent statements, I wonder why they’d think that?
New study by Forrester Research, reported by Adotas.com, says that US teens and tweens aren’t very interested in this Summer’s Olympics and that marketers targeting these age groups be wary of using media surrounding the Olympics.
This makes a lot of sense to me when you look at the Summer Olympic events. Sixteen canoeing events? Ten fencing events? I’m interested in cycling but 18 cycling events? At least they added BMX racing for the first time ever but, to me, cycling’s just not that fun to watch on your TV or computer.
Sure, if you’re personally involved in any of these Olympic sports you (or a teen/tween) will be more likely to watch. (Kind of like I mentioned about niche vertical being some of the best performing print media in the past few months.)
Now, on the other hand, look at these photos from Summer X-Games. There’s quite a difference between these games and the Olympics. Adrenaline flows through (my non-teen) system just looking at these images and you know how popular the X-Games have become. (In addition to EXPN, ESPN and online coverage this year ESPN delivered over 30 hours of X-Games video coverage directly to CELL PHONES! (here’s a link to imedia connection mention of TV on mobile)
In May, an article in Variety reported that, “The public’s perception of the Olympics has changed greatly from the days of Mark Spitz and Mary Lou Retton. Where once America’s eyes were solely focused on how our athletes were performing versus the rest of the world — all against fewer entertainment choices around the dial — those days are long gone.”
Variety goes on to say that the Olympic viewer demographic have changed from the 18-34 male” to a more general appeal with both genders and a range of ages tuning in. Women 25-54, especially, have produced a huge uptick.”
“More females watching can be attributed to the fact that the primetime incarnation of the Games has become filled with short profiles and human-interest stories about the athletes. The drama now is generated not by the scoreboard but by the long and often torturous road leading up the big event.”
I assume they are people within driving distance. I can’t imagine the city has the budget to advertise enough to increase the awareness of Columbus enough to make someone buy a plane ticket.
So, let’s say the target is people within a couple hundred miles…
Within a few hundred mile radius of Columbus are residents of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia. Just a few competitive cities in the region are Nashville, Baltimore, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indianapollis and Louisville - so there are more than a few alternatives that Columbus is up against.”
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