- Number of Americans traveling overseas: 30,300,000
(Or about 10% of the US population.)
- Percent that travel abroad for leisure: 85.4%
(Which means that most Americans abroad are not traveling on business. All that follows pertains to leisure travelers.)
- Percent that are first-time international travelers: 7%
(So stop pretending that you don’t know what you’re doing.)
- Average number of days in advance traveler decided to make the trip: 96.4
- Average number of days in advance traveler booked airline tickets: 66.4
(How are those spring travel plans coming along? And what are you thinking about in the month between the decision to go and booking that flight?)
- Average length of trip: 17.7 nights outside the US
- Percent that pre-book lodging: 44%
(These statistics make it seem like there are a lot of seat-of-pantsers out there, but 43% of all leisure travelers are visiting friends and relatives, so there’s less spontaneity and more couch-surfing going on.)
- Average age of traveler: male: 44.7 female: 43.1
(This is a strange statistic, actually, since most age data is expressed in terms of median, not mean. Means are influenced by extremes, so infants and oldsters could throw the number off. FWIW, the U.S. median age is younger — 35.2 for men, 37.9 for women.)
- Annual household income: median $95, 100
(Nearly twice the median US household income: $49,777) (But wait.)
- Percent that fly coach or economy: 81%
(That’s not rich enough to spend the money on an upgraded ticket. Average amount spent on airfare, per person: $1,012.)
- Average expenditure per visitor, per day: $70.
(This figure seems remarkably low to me, considering that the most common activities for leisure travelers are dining in restaurants (82%), shopping (74%). But maybe that number reflects a lot of McDonald’s meals and shopping for fridge magnets .)
- Percent of adults that travel with adults only: 91%
- Percent of adults that travel with children: 9%
(Which means that if there’s a kid kicking your seat all the way across an ocean…)
- Percent that travel for religion or a pilgrimage: 1%
(…you might consider trying to boost this number, because fate has made you her bitch.)
Source: Profile of U.S. Resident Travelers Visiting Overseas Destinations: 2009 Outbound. The U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.
Average number of days in advance traveler decided to make the trip: 96.4
Average length of trip: 17.7 nights outside the US
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haha
I’m also surprised by the amount of money spent per day, considering that most of the people I know that make $95,000 a year wouldn’t be the ones to stay in a hotel that costs under $70.
Though the number for religious pilgrimages does seem low, it never really occurred to me to do one until the last couple years, and I still have no idea what I’d do. I kinda consider (long-term) travel to be a spiritual activity in itself, though.
Yes, some of this just seems like it has to be thrown off by the outliers. Especially this:
Average length of trip: 17.7 nights outside the US
I meet very few Americans traveling for that long and I meet a lot of travelers. I’m guessing the stat is off because of people like me who are spending a year abroad but have popped back into the U.S. once or twice. Or students studying abroad. Or snowbirds who spend the winter in Mexico or Costa Rica.
That $70 a day part is odd too. Again, maybe the visiting relatives or the living abroad people are throwing it off.
Yeah, Mike (and Tim), I really don’t understand that $70/day figure at all.
Tim, I think you’re right about what’s behind that very high average stay number, and I also think that the higher average age of the traveler might have something to do with this, as oldsters still do tend to take longer trips when they go overseas…
$70 expenditure is very much a realistic figure. Considering that more than 80% travelers travel to the budget destinations like India, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Bali, Philippines and so on. Traveling these places is very cheap and at the same time very exciting. And $70 = 3400 Indian Rupees and with 3400 rs you can easily do lots and lots there.
I make way less than that I can still afford to travelling to Europe or Asia for a couple of weeks.
It is just all about budgeting and not buying crap you do not need.