Gas Prices Won’t Idle Travelers

One in five adults plans to travel less or not at all this summer because of concerns about the economy and record-high fuel prices, according to an industry survey released Thursday. But the report still predicted a slight increase in overall travel as nearly 30 million Americans are expected to take more trips than last summer.

The annual survey by the Travel Industry Assn. of America shows increasing concern among consumers over gas prices, especially travelers on the West Coast. In all, 6%--or 8.7 million adults--are planning to cut out vacation travel altogether because of it.

When gas prices crept up to the $1.50-a-gallon mark about this time last year, the same industry survey showed only about 2 million adults forgoing summer travel as a result.

“It’s a big increase, and we expect it will keep going up as long as the gas prices do,” said Toni Horst, senior economist for Economy.com, an economic research firm in West Chester, Pa. “People want to travel and take vacations, but they’re beginning to be a bit more cautious,” she added.

Still, TIA officials emphasized that even as the economy is slowing and rising fuel prices steal headlines, the sheer number of consumers planning to take trips is significant. Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of the group, said that although 14% said they would travel less or not at all because of gas prices, most cited fuel costs as the reason only after being prompted by the survey interviewer.

“This isn’t a concern that’s weighing heavily on people’s minds, or they would have mentioned it right away,” Cook said. “What’s more surprising to me is that despite the economy and all the attention high gas prices are getting, consumers are telling us we can still expect a slow-growth summer for travel.”

The American Automobile Assn., in a separate survey released Thursday, said that its Auto Club members are planning vacations this summer at about the same rate as last year. What’s more, the AAA survey found that despite high gasoline prices, Americans do not plan to fly more this year as previously thought; about 22% of summer travelers plan to take airplanes.

In the TIA survey of 1,000 adults last month, 20% said they planned to travel more this summer than last, 47% about the same and 17% have no plans to travel.

But fuel prices were more troubling to travelers who live in California, Oregon and Washington as well as those with household incomes less than $25,000. Nearly 65% of those surveyed in the Pacific region said rising fuel prices will affect their summer travels, compared with a national average of 41%.

That’s not surprising given the generally higher fuel prices in the West. In Los Angeles and Orange counties, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline jumped last week to $2--up more than 6 cents from the prior week, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. Nationwide, the average price of gas climbed 5 cents last week to $1.76 a gallon.

Despite the hike, the survey estimated that 28.5 million Americans will drive 50 miles or more from home on Memorial Day weekend. That’s a slight increase over last year’s holiday.

TIA’s Cook said that based on the survey, for every adult who plans to travel less or not at all, there is another who plans to travel more this summer than last. Those respondents, which translate into 30 million people, said they can afford to travel more because they have additional vacation time or feel their finances are better this year. On average, summer travelers intend to spend $1,172 on their longest pleasure trip this year, up from $965 last year.

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Hitting the Road

Despite concerns about rising gas prices, nearly 30 million Americans plan to take more trips this summer and spend more money on their longest pleasure trip than last summer.

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Where travelers are going ....

Florida: 34%

California: 32%

New York: 12%

Hawaii: 12%

Texas: 10%

Nevada: 9%

Colorado: 9%

Virginia: 7%

South Carolina: 7%

Washington, D.C.: 6%

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... and how much they plan to spend

$1,000 to $2,499: 33%

$500 to $999: 25%

Less than $500: 27%

More than $2,500: 15%

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Source: Travel Industry Assn. of America