Summer Travel--Not Spending--Expected to Rise

High gasoline prices will not keep travelers at home this summer, but tourists will be looking to save money wherever they can, according to a nationwide survey released Thursday by the American Automobile Assn. and the Travel Industry Assn. of America.

And in a hint of the crowds awaiting local tourist spots, the Los Angeles/Anaheim and San Diego areas made the list of top five travel destinations by car for the first time, the groups said.

“Last summer, we talked upscale and lavish. This summer, we’re talking family and economizing,” said William Norman, president of the Travel Industry Assn. of America, a Washington-based promotional and research group for the $430-billion U.S. travel industry.

Overall travel will increase 2% from last summer’s record, with Americans taking 232 “person-trips” of 100 miles or more from home, Norman said at a news conference in New York. But spending will remain the same, at an average of $1,076 per trip, he said.

“The typical vacation will include more people per trip, longer trips and the same record level of spending as last summer, resulting in lower per capita expenditures,” he said.

The summer travel forecast, developed after surveying 1,500 adults by telephone, contrasts with a poll released two weeks ago by the Travel Industry Assn. that found 40% plan to alter their summer travel plans in response to rising gasoline prices. Norman said that survey reflected “sticker shock” over gasoline prices that has faded as gasoline prices appear to have stabilized.

In fact, AAA expects gasoline prices to begin declining soon, said Graeme Clarke, senior vice president of products and services for the organization.

“While no one likes to pay more at the pump, Americans will not let gas prices stand in the way of their summer vacation,” Clarke said.

A one-way car trip from Los Angeles to Washington will cost $11.91 more this summer than last, using the national average of $1.307 per gallon that regular unleaded gas costs at a self-serve pump in an AAA survey earlier this month, compared to $1.196 per gallon in May 1995.

The summer travel survey found that 27% of adults plan to travel more this summer, while 43% plan to travel the same amount; 11% expect to travel less, and 16% have no travel plans.

But business travel will drop 5 percentage points compared to last summer, reflecting corporate cost cutting.

Southern California tourism officials are expecting a good season, continuing a rebound in tourism that began last year.

“We’re expecting a strong summer,” said Carol Martinez, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

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Pump Watch

Retail prices in California for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline continued to edge lower Thursday. Daily price per gallon:

Thursday: $1.531

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration