TIA Says Americans Catch Spring Fever

March 7, 2005

TIA Says Americans Catch Spring Fever
March 7, 2005 – According to the Travel Industry Association of America’s Spring 2005 Travel Forecast, Americans plan on taking nearly 281 million person-trips during March, April and May this year. This represents an increase of 1.2 percent over spring of last year.

"Americans are upbeat, a prelude to a busy spring travel season. Their travel intentions are healthy, they feel good about the economy, and they feel positive about their own finances. These key factors point to a record spring travel season," said Dr. Suzanne Cook, TIA Senior Vice President of Research.

TIA reports that Americans are expected to take nearly 223 million leisure person-trips this spring, up one percent from last year. While this growth is moderate, it’s nearly seven percent higher than spring 2003 and nearly 10 percent higher than spring of 2000.

Business and convention travel volume also continues to recover, increasing two percent in spring 2005. Americans plan on taking 47.1 million business/convention trips this spring, up from 46.1 million last spring. While this brings the volume in line with spring of 2000, it’s still below the 48.1-million business/convention trips taken in spring of 2001.

To view complete results of TIA’s survey, visit http://www.tia.org/.