Two in Five U.S. Adults Plan to Take a Vacation within the Next Six Months

When thinking about taking their next vacation, a majority of U.S. adults (74%) say they will travel within the United States. Among all adults, 41 percent plan to take their next vacation within the next six months, while 26 percent are not sure of when their next vacation will take place. Among those who plan to stay in the United States for their next vacation, California and Florida tie as the states most respondents intend to visit (11% each), and Las Vegas (5%) is the top city tourists intend to visit. Among those planning to venture outside the United States, about one in five (19%) is planning a trip to Mexico.

These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,718 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive^® between November 15 and 22, 2005.

Other interesting findings about Americans’ upcoming vacations include:

• While about one-quarter (24%) of adults who will remain in the states for their next vacation indicate they are not sure which city they intend to travel to during their vacation, only four percent of adults planning to travel abroad are unsure of their destination.
• After Mexico, other frequently cited countries abroad travelers plan to visit include the Bahamas (6%), Canada (5%), France (5%), Jamaica (4%), Spain (4%) and the United Kingdom (4%).
• The timeframe for vacation plans does not appear to vary widely across respondent ages. Approximately one-half of Matures (45%) and approximately two in five Baby Boomers (39%), Generation Xers (38%) and Echo Boomers (40%) plan on taking their vacation within the next six months. Echo Boomers are slightly less likely to know when they plan to take their next vacation (37%).

Summer vacations
One-half (50%) of adults have yet to decide if they will go on vacation next summer and one-quarter (24%) have tentative plans but may change their minds. Not surprisingly, finances play a role in vacation planning for many, as about six in 10 (59%) of those who are not sure if they are taking a summer vacation say they will need to make sure of their finances before deciding if travel plans are viable.

Other summer vacation details include:

• The vast majority (86%) of all adults think their summer vacation travel will be within the United States. For those who plan to summer vacation in the states, California (9%) and Florida (8%) are among the top destination states.
• However, about one-third (32%) of those planning to take a summer vacation in the United States are not sure which state, and more than two in five (42%) are not sure which city, they will visit this summer.
• Fourteen percent of all adults plan to travel abroad for their summer vacation. Hispanics (24%) are more likely than whites (12%) or blacks (10%) to say they will travel outside the United States this summer.
• Mexico is the top summer destination (8%) for those planning to travel abroad this summer, followed closely by the United Kingdom (7%), Italy (5%), Canada (5%) and France (4%).

When traveling, one-half (51%) of adults say they "sometimes" or "always" take promotional discounts, loyalty points or added amenities into consideration when deciding on a vacation location. Generation X is the generation most likely to always take these factors into account (13%). Conversely, one half of Echo Boomers (51%) and Matures (52%) say they "rarely" or "never" make decisions about vacation destinations based on promotions.

Table 1
TIMEFRAME OF NEXT VACATION
"When do you plan on taking your next vacation?"

Base: All Adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Will you be traveling in the U.S. or outside of the U.S. for your next vacation?"

Base: All Adults (n=1,718)

"Which state will you be traveling to for your next vacation?"

"Which city will you be traveling to?"

Base: Those who will travel within U.S. for their next vacation

"Which country will you be traveling to for your next vacation?"

Base: Those who will travel outside the U.S. for their next vacation (n=198)

"Thinking ahead to next summer, have you made any vacation plans yet?"

Base: All Adults (n=1,718)

"What would need to happen before your decide on your plans?"

Base: Those not sure of vacation plans for next summer (n=1,273)

Note: Multiple-response question.

"Do you think your summer vacation will be in the U.S.?"

Base: All Adults

* Small base. Data should only be used directionally.

"Which state do you plan on visiting during your summer vacation?"

"Which city will you be traveling to?"

Base: Those who plan to summer vacation in the U.S. (n=1,453)

"Which country do you plan on visiting during your summer vacation?"

Base: Those who plan to summer vacation outside the U.S. (n=265)

"Do you ever take promotional offerings like a discount off travel prices, additional loyalty points or added amenities into consideration when deciding on a vacation location?"

Base: All Adults

Methodology
The Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between November 15 and 22, 2005 among a nationwide cross section of 1,718 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the various sub-sample listed in the tables above is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample was not a probability sample.

J25890
Q800, 805, 808, 809, 810, 815, 820, 825, 827, 828, 830, 828, 830, 835