1.8 Million Change Travel Plans in Face of Terrorism

Close to 1.8 million Americans have dropped or changed foreign travel plans in the face of international terrorism, according to a study that predicts a record travel season at home.

These U.S. citizens “changed their overseas travel reservations in reaction to reports of terrorist attacks against U.S. airlines,” the private U.S. Travel Data Center reported today.

About 1.4 million people canceled plans to travel abroad, while many others were looking into changes in destination, center officials indicated.

“This is not going to be a good year for Western European travel,” said Douglas C. Frechtling, director of the nonprofit center that studies American travel and vacation activities.

Vacation travel within the United States is expected to reach a record summer level thanks to the improved economy, the survey said.

Frechtling said a survey of 4,000 people indicates, for the first time, that cities have edged past beaches as the places Americans want to visit this summer, and he predicted record vacation spending of $100 billion.

U.S. summer vacation trips will climb to a record 288 million person trips, Frechtling told a news conference. A person-trip is defined as travel of 100 miles or more by one person.

The Southeast is expected to have the largest growth in tourism, up 7% to 77 million vacation trips, and a 6% increase to 66 million is expected in the Western states, the center reported.

While cities edged ahead of beaches overall, that was not true in every region, Frechtling said, with beaches remaining most popular in the East.

Among residents of the West, 40% said they were heading for cities, followed by 24% going to beaches and 16% picking rural sites.