LAS VEGAS -- Presidential election years are said to have a downward
impact on travel sales, and Virtuoso analyzed data to find out if that assumption
is true. Turns out, it is.
Speaking at Virtuoso Travel Week at the Bellagio here, Virtuoso
senior vice president of global member partnerships David Kolner said Virtuoso
pulled transactional data for the last three election years, and the year immediately
before.
On average, sales in the U.S. increased 14.3% in the year
before an election year, but only 2.9% during the actual election year.
In 2007, Virtuoso saw 8.8% sales growth. In the 2008 election
year, growth fell to 3.3%. Virtuoso saw 18.8% growth in 2011, but only 5.7%
growth in 2012. In 2015, the consortium enjoyed growth of 15.4%, but growth was
flat in 2016.
Sales growth even fell for transactions occurring outside
the U.S. during election years. On average, non-U.S. sales for the last three
election cycles increased 36.1% in the year before the election year, but only
18.4% during the election year, Virtuoso said.