Travel is Top Priority for Americans
The travel industry is thriving more than ever these days, with business and leisure travel more popular than ever. The U.S. Travel Association accounted for 1.7 billion personal trips within the last year, as leisure travel makes up for about 76 percent of all US travel. With the increase in travelers’ desires for authentic experiences, people are willing to spend more to get authentic tastes of what an area is truly like. From food and beverage to nightlife and entertainment, leisure travelers want to experience as much as possible without feeling like they need to travel too far once they’ve reached their destination. The US Travel Association cited that throughout last year, travelers directly spent $248.5 billion dollars in restaurants, grocery stores and drinking establishments while traveling throughout the country. The more authentic the experience, the easier it is to attract tourists to local businesses.
Another way to gain the interest of leisure travelers is to understand their rationale for wanting to travel in the first place. According to the US Travel Association, domestic leisure travelers are usually traveling for the following reasons: visiting relatives, shopping trips, visiting friends, dining and rural sightseeing. With that knowledge in mind, local businesses with a high influx of travelers can cater their marketing and advertising to the specific demographic they’re wanting to attract by implementing themselves within the travelers’ experience.
