The long-awaited travel industry recovery is in full swing and will remain so through 2004 and 2005, according to The Travel Industry Association of America annual forecast.
Key findings:
—-Overall spending by domestic and international travelers is expected to grow 6% this year alone.
—-Leisure travel is forecast to be up 3.5 percent.
—-And the moribund business travel sector should make its first gains since 1999. It is expected to grow 4.6 percent.
The combination of a strengthening economy and an increase in consumer confidence and spending is making 2004 shape up as one of the strongest travel years in a long time, according to William S. Norman, president and CEO of the TIA.
He predicted overall travel spending would surpass record levels set in 2000.
Report by David Wilkening
