Although the turmoil in the Middle East has worsened, the national savings rate is negative and the price of gasoline at the pump is likely to climb well above $3 per gallon in the months ahead, 95 percent of all active travelers in America took at least one vacation during the previous 12 months (on average, they took four), and 33 percent are planning to take more vacations this year than last (26 percent are planning to take fewer).

Once again, the data from our 2007 National Leisure Travel Monitor reveal that Americans view vacations as an essential part of contemporary life. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that demand from leisure travelers now fills more hotel rooms and airline seats on an annual basis than demand from business travelers.

The incidence of leisure travel continues to be dominated by adults traveling as couples, followed by adults traveling with children and adults traveling alone.

Visiting friends and relatives remains the most popular type of vacation (by 56 percent of leisure travelers), followed by beach/lake vacations (27 percent), general sightseeing vacations (21 percent), urban/city vacations (15 percent), cruise vacations (12 percent), camping/hiking vacations (12 percent) and theme park vacations (11 percent). One out of 10 American leisure travelers took a gambling vacation, while only 2 percent took a golf vacation.

Consistent with the prediction we made several years ago, the frenetic pace of contemporary life continues to erode the limited vacation time Americans have each year (only 13 days on average, versus 26 days in Canada and 42 in Italy). It also is the primary reason why the most popular form of vacationing is a weekend trip of four nights or less that includes a Saturday night stay. This type of vacation represents the majority (52 percent) of all vacations taken by Americans last year.

The lodging preferences of American leisure travelers mirror those of business travelers with one primary exception: Leisure travelers are significantly less likely to prefer luxury accommodations. They also are slightly less likely to prefer full-service hotels than business travelers.

When asked to identify the Top 3 lodging brands they are most likely to patronize on a future leisure trip: both Holiday Inn and Marriott are mentioned by 25 percent of leisure travelers, while 17 percent mention Hilton.

The majority (66 percent) of leisure travelers who are airline and hotel users now go exclusively to the Internet when planning a future vacation, while 57 percent report making reservations online.

All of these data confirm, once again, that Americans view their vacations as a birthright.

Peter Yesawich is president and c.e.o. of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell. He can be reached at peter_yesawich@ypbr.com
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hmm@questex.com