Value Leads the Way in the New Year

According to new research conducted by the Ypartnership, households are still planning at least one trip during the next six months, which is the same as a year ago.

"Our most recent tracking surveys reveal there is still plenty of demand for travel services in the marketplace for those who are aggressive and clever enough to capture it," said Peter Yesawich, president and CEO of Ypartnership, in a statement.

But that doesn’t mean that the year won’t be fraught with challenges. And Ypartnership predicts that families will be looking for very targeted ways to part with their vacation dollars. Some tips on what to pay attention to in the coming year: value, celebration vacations and shorter trips.

According to the October 2008 TravelHorizons survey, value is king in ’09. Agents should expect consumers to demand more in exchange for what they pay. Families won’t necessarily opt for the least expensive alternative, but they will shop aggressively to ensure they don’t overpay for what they consider rightfully theirs in the current economic
climate: a good deal. They are also more likely to purchase inclusively priced travel services to exercise greater control over the total cost of the trip before they depart.

Also, two-thirds of active travelers participating in the survey indicated that "staying fewer nights" was a strategy they intended to employ to save money in the year ahead.

In a separate survey, conducted for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts by Ypartnership, survey participants also said that vacations are increasingly perceived as an appropriate way to recognize certain life events (e.g. anniversaries, school graduations, retirement, etc.). Seven out of 10 adults say that they have taken a "Celebration Vacation" before, and agents can use this to their advantage in 2009, since these trips are planned further in advance, budgeted at a higher amount, longer in duration and include more people in the traveling party.

While celebration vacations and good values are on the rise, shorter trips will also be more common in 2009. Families hit hard by rising fuel costs and a dampening economy are looking to stay closer to home on vacation. A 2008 Travel Industry Trends survey by Deloitte revealed that mini-vacations were on the rise, with two-income families struggling to balance work, school and extracurricular activities. Forty-seven percent of travelers reported taking more short vacations and indicated that two-week getaways were less popular.

Despite hardships at home, however, it’s heartening to know that families do still intend to travel in 2009.