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MMGY: Affluent Americans to travel more, spend more

A new report from MMGY Global shows that 20% of Americans with household incomes above US$125,000 plan to travel more in the coming year and 50% are willing to pay more for high-quality lodging.

Here are some other key findings in the “2014 Portrait of Affluent Travelers” study:

  • Travelers who earn $250,000 or more annually took an average of 6.2 leisure trips in 2013, significantly more than the 4.7 vacations taken by those with an annual household income between US$125,000–US$249,999. Both groups of travelers expect to take more trips in the year ahead.
  • Affluent travelers cite relaxation and enrichment as the most desirable attributes when they travel, as 75% cite the desire to have enough time to relax and unwind, 64% want to explore new cities and attractions, 59% wish to experience different cultures and 54% want to enhance their relationships.
  • During the next two years, 50% of affluent travelers are interested in visiting: the Hawaiian Neighbor Islands (63%), national parks throughout the country (61%), Honolulu (55%), New York City (52%), San Francisco (51%), Florida Keys (49%) and Napa Valley (47%).
  • 60% of affluent travelers are interested in travel to Europe during the next two years. The countries that rise to the top of this list include Italy (41%), England (40%) and France (38%). 
  • 50% of affluent travelers are interested in visiting the Caribbean, specifically the U.S. Virgin Islands (27%); the Bahamas (25%); and the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten and Aruba (each at 23%). 
  • More than 30% of affluent travelers are interested in visiting Oceana, especially Australia (32%), New Zealand (29%) and Fiji (18%). 25% would like to visit South America and Mexico.
  • In a noteworthy departure from the trend observed among all leisure travelers, affluent travelers prefer travel service providers’ websites to online travel agencies (OTAs). 50% of this group believes that travel service providers’ websites offer the greatest convenience and the best prices. While 60% of affluent travelers visit OTAs on a regular basis to get prices and information, only 30% actually use these sites to book travel. Nearly 25% turn to travel service provider websites, while almost 20% books directly with a travel service provider over the phone.
  • Twenty-five percent of affluent travelers plan to use the services of a traditional travel agent during the next two years, up from one out of five last year. Among those who plan to work with travel agents, 80% will do so because of the agent’s ability to provide an extra level of service when things go wrong, their knowledge of destinations and travel service providers, or their ability to take the hassle out of booking travel. 
  • More than 30% of affluent travelers visited an online community, travel forum or blog during the past 12 months to seek or review information about a destination or travel service provider. Among them, 75% prefer to read individual reviews rather than rely on a rating alone, but will not consider hotels or restaurants with low online quality ratings. Nearly 60% generally believe the ratings they see online, while more 50% are suspicious of overtly positive reviews. 
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