Americans are increasingly looking for action on vacation, according to a new informal poll of leading tour operators.
Nearly two out of three tour operators responding to a recent member survey conducted by the U.S. Tour Operators Association said that adventure travel is on the rise.
At the same time, results were mixed when it comes to “slow travel” – stay-put vacations or tours taking more time to cover an area or visiting an area more in depth.
“Our previous research indicated that baby boomers are clearly fueling the growth in active vacations,” said Bob Whitley, USTOA president. He added:
“Today Americans –especially the baby boomer generation — are no longer content to simply sightsee; they want to ‘sight do,’ and experience a destination.”
Customized tours are a growing market with FITS scoring the greatest gain, the survey found.
The increased interest in active vacations was reflected in the types of packaged vacations being booked. FITs scored the greatest gain, with more than 80% of respondents saying this category has experienced growth in 2007 compared to 2006.
Independent tours came in second with 73% of respondents reporting gains in this area, followed by escorted tours, with 60% reporting year over year growth. In what may reflect a slight maturing of the market, while more than half of respondents reported growth in independent packages (usually prepackaged hotel and other arrangements), a full third said there had been no change in this category over the previous year.
Report by David Wilkening
