Here is a great article as we head into the 4th of July Holiday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Who knew the calendar could cause so much
vacation heartburn?
For the first time in five years Independence Day falls
on a Wednesday, leaving travelers unsure when to celebrate and worrying those
who make a living off tourists.
"The midweek holiday seems to have travelers
confused," said Anthony Del Gaudio, vice president of hotel sales for
Loews Hotels, which isn't seeing the normal July Fourth spike in bookings.
Those who sell vacations say this year's calendar gives
Americans more options: Tack on Saturday through Tuesday or Thursday through Sunday
to the holiday, or just take the entire week off.
But consumers' confidence has been waning. Now, some
aren't happy about having to burn an extra vacation day or two to get that long
weekend. From 2008 through 2011, the work holiday fell on either Friday or
Monday, so employees and their families got an automatic three-day weekend,
similar to Memorial Day and Labor Day.
"It's irritating because everybody wants those
three, four-day holiday weekends," said Tom Donohue, who runs an HIV
awareness program based in Charlottesville, Va.
In recent years, he's traveled to see family in
Pennsylvania, including his father whose birthday is on July 2. There's
swimming and boating on the Susquehanna River and — of course — fireworks.
Not this year. Donohue plans to stay local, savings those
days off "for an actual vacation," a Caribbean cruise in October.
Others are determined to have their summer holiday no
matter what.
Alicia Hutton, her husband and their two daughters are
flying from Boston to Baltimore to see family. The parents had to take two
extra days off from their jobs to make the Wednesday-Saturday trip work.
"It's not ideal because normally we would tack on
one day to a long weekend," Hutton said.
AAA, one of the nation's largest travel agencies,
projects 42.3 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home between
July 3 and July 8. That's roughly the same amount that traveled in 2007, the
last time July Fourth fell on a Wednesday. Last year, when the holiday fell on
a Monday, 40.3 million people traveled. But before you think it's a big
increase, note that AAA's economists changed how they estimated the number of
travelers: They used a six-day period this year compared to five last year.
"In general, we think that travel from last year is
pretty flat," said Shane Norton, a director at IHS Global Insight, which
provides economic forecasting and research for AAA.
The economy weighs heavily on families' travel plans.
Consumer confidence has fallen for four straight months as Americans continue
to worry about their jobs and retirement funds. The June reader of a widely
followed confidence index was 62. A reading of 90 indicates a healthy economy.
That helps explain why families don't seem prepared yet
to splurge on vacation. Many want to get away but are opting for lower-priced
hotels and are looking specifically for properties with free breakfast and
Internet. Or they're choosing instead to stay with friends or relatives.
The typical traveler will spend $749 over six days, down
from $807 over five days last year, according to an online survey of 344 people
conducted for AAA. Another look at the holiday, by Visa Inc., shows that all
Americans — whether traveling or not — will spend an average of $191 on July
4th activities, down from $216 last year. Visa surveyed 1,012 people by
telephone.
"With most Americans continuing to watch every
dollar closely, many have realized that sparklers and flag emblazoned t-shirts
are not essential items" Jason Alderman, Visa's senior director of global
financial education said in a statement.
Some don't plan to celebrate at all. There will be no
trips to the beach, no fireworks and no barbeques for 1 in 5 Americans,
according to Visa.
The overwhelming majority of Independence Day travelers
plan to drive: 35.5 million people or 84 percent of travelers according to AAA.
As they do, they'll get a break at the pump.
The price of gasoline, always on travelers' minds before
a summer road trip, is now an average $3.33 per gallon — down from almost $4 in
early April, when there was talk of $5 gas by summer. Whether that will
translate into spending more at their destination remains unclear.
"Theoretically, it should boost consumer spending,
but so far there's no evidence of that," said energy consultant Jim
Ritterbusch. "The housing industry is still depressed and that's keeping
people from being confident. They're going to remain thrifty."
Another 3.2 million travelers, or 8 percent of holiday
vacationers, plan to fly. That will boost their credit card bills: the average
domestic roundtrip ticket is $391, up 6 percent from last year, according to
Travelocity.
Hotel rooms will also cost more. The average price for a
room in the top 25 cities will be $140, up 16 percent from last year, according
to Orbitz.
Some families haven't been able to travel for three or
four years. There are signs they might finally be ready for a summer trip,
whether it's this week or not.
Adam Weissenberg, who heads the travel and hospitality
consulting group at Deloitte, said many families canceled or delayed vacations
during the recession.
"People are starting to say: gee, I need to take a
vacation," Weissenberg said.
Brandy Moore, owner and captain of Biloxi Shrimping Trips
in Mississippi, was worried about the mid-week holiday but has ended up selling
out her 20-person, 6 a.m. fishing tour for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday. But she attributes it to a better overall summer season; not a
particularly strong Independence Day.
"We are just are having a really busy summer all
around," Moore said.
At Kampgrounds of America Inc., which operates 450
campgrounds in the United States under the KOA name, summer bookings are up 5
percent from last year.
But KOA is still feeling the effect of the calendar
quick. Reservations for the July Fourth holiday are down 4 percent.
"It's the weakest situation we could ask for,"
said Mike Gast, the company's vice president of communications. "We
obviously like it to be a Friday or Monday."
____
Reporters Chris Kahn and Samantha Bomkamp contributed to
this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment