A Holiday Travel Gift: More Americans Traveling this Season

Rome, a top Holiday dream destination. Photo credit: Fototeca ENIT

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales surged, the travel industry is experiencing a predicted increase this holiday season with 42 percent traveling for the holidays, an increase compared to last year. Stemming from its holiday travel survey, TripAdvisor® reports of those traveling for the holidays, 66 percent plan to drive and 52 percent will fly. 

Off to grandma’s house we go with the TripAdvisor survey revealing 55 percent will travel to visit family compared to 38 percent who will host family this season. While 81 percent of U.S. respondents will see family and friends over the holidays, up from 77 percent last year, 13 percent plan to “escape” family by taking a trip this holiday season, according to survey results.

Top 10 Holiday Dream Escapes for 2008, according to TripAdvisor travelers:

  1.  Hawaii

  2.  London

  3.  Paris

  4.  Aruba

  5.  New York City

  6.  Las Vegas

  7.  Jamaica

  8.  Rome

  9.  Bahamas

  10. Tahiti

Cruising offers cost-effective travel. Photo Credit: Regent Seven Seas

While more Americans plan to travel for the holidays, 68 percent of TripAdvisor survey respondents said that they will be more budget conscious with their holiday travel compared to the previous year. Thirty-six percent of U.S. travelers are staying closer to home and 18 percent said they will fly on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day because it is cheaper.

One value-based vacation for travelers to consider is a cruise. Cruise Line Industry Association’s (CLIA) President and CEO Terry L. Dale, says “In the current economic environment, consumers want to make every penny count. A cruise vacation is always excellent value for money spent because of inclusive pricing.”

According to a recent CLIA and Cruise Critic survey, over 83 percent of families said cruise vacations are very good or extremely good value.

Another finding in the TripAdvisor survey states that 52 percent of Americans find traveling for the holiday season stressful. Despite this, 25 percent of travelers still believe taking a trip somewhere is the best way to alleviate holiday-related stress.

Cruising is often viewed as a stress-free vacation. Almost 70 percent of the CLIA and Cruise Critic survey respondents said that planning a cruise was easier than planning a resort vacation and over 20 percent cited the hassle-free “don’t need to plan anything” quality of a cruise as the most enjoyable feature of a vacation at sea.

Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of Cruise Critic, agrees, “The cruise vacation is an attractive way to travel because many elements of a stress-free family trip are wrapped up into one tidy package for passengers.”

Are you taking a holiday vacation? If so, where are you traveling?