MIAMI BEACH -- American Express has good news for agents and
suppliers, based on telephone consumer research conducted in
September and presented at the ASTA World Travel Congress here.
According to the American Express Leisure Travel Index, 30% of
those planning a vacation of five days or more intend to book with
a travel agent, up from 23% in 2002.
Also, while the Internet continued to outshine other sources for
research purposes, 25% of respondents called themselves
"do-it-yourselfers," down from 39% in 2002.
The index also showed travelers expect to spend $2,962 on
average for their longer vacations in 2004, a significant rise from
the $2,163 projected for 2003. In addition, the proportion of those
planning to spend more than $5,000 nearly doubled, from 6% to
11%.
Airlines will benefit based on the plans of 55% to travel by air
in 2004, a 25% jump from the 44% who did fly in 2002. Among those
planning to travel by air, 48% said they will travel both
domestically and internationally, another significant leap from 36%
in 2002.
Meanwhile, a separate survey of 114 American Express counselors
across the U.S. showed Hawaii and Rome as the most popular domestic
and international destinations, respectively, among the company's
leisure clients for 2004.
Honolulu and Cancun, Mexico, were tapped as the most popular
destinations, domestically and internationally, for the coming
holiday season.
The following is a roundup of news from the ASTA congress:
• Arriving late to the loyalty-program party, Cendant announced
the launch of Triprewards, stating it will have the greatest
distribution of any hotel plan in the world.
Participants will earn points at nearly 6,500 hotels and for
Avis and Budget car rentals that can be used for Cendant services
at more than 50 retail partners.
"Our big objective has been to coordinate the business units
that have been assembled by Cendant during the past three years,"
said Peter Strebel, the hotel group's senior vice president of
sales and marketing.
"One of our main goals was to find ways to work better together
to move customers among our brands, and Triprewards is a prime
means of achieving that."
• Bermuda's hotel capacity is expected to grow from 3,500 rooms
to 10,000 during the next four years, while cruise arrivals are
unlikely to change much from 2003 levels, said Renee Webb, minister
of tourism.
Bermuda rigidly controls tourism growth to maintain the quality
of its upscale destination, and Webb said that despite the increase
in hotel capacity, she did not expect the island to go beyond the
230,000 cruise-passenger limit.
Six ships are authorized to make weekly visits. Webb said she
was trying to arrange for a cruise ship to dock on weekends at the
Royal Naval Dockyard.
• The products of travel insurer CSA will be available for sale
through Sabre's eVoya platform in December and, at around the same
time, will be part of the product mix offered via Revelex, a
provider of technology and products for the Power Agent agency
desktop and for agency-sponsored consumer Web sites.
• Travel Impressions touted its new TIConnect, a platform
designed to let agencies enhance their Web sites with a booking
tool clients can use to buy the operator's products.
Available now, the tool lets customers select packages and add
extras, such as transfers, cars, sightseeing and insurance,
according to Travel Impressions president Steve Gorga.
• Effective Nov. 1, the National Association of Commissioned
Travel Agents (Nacta) will operate a separate online space for its
host-agency members at www.hostagencydigest.com to facilitate
communication among that group.
It will be free for the first 90 days, after which a "nominal"
fee will apply, Nacta said.