Abstract
This report covers travel taken outside of the U.S. states, with at least one night of paid-for accommodation. The analysis focuses mainly on commercial accommodation for hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts.
Though many may consider the outbound travel market a mature one, only 30% of Americans hold valid passports and only 41% have traveled outside the U.S. in the past three years. This indicates that many Americans are not willing to, or do not have the means to, travel outside the U.S.
Despite this, the outbound travel market, both in terms of number of outbound travelers and in spending abroad, grew 7.6% and 21.5% respectively from 2003 to 2005. International travel spending by U.S. residents exceeded year 2000 levels in 2005 when spending reached $95 billion. Spend on international travel by U.S. residents returned to 2000 levels in 2004, having declined each year in between. The number of outbound trips is also forecast to exceed year 2000 levels in 2006 with an estimated 61 million outbound travelers. Again it was not until 2004 when 2000 levels where reached after successive years of decline in the between years.
This rebound in outbound travel comes on the heals of a slump in outbound travel from 2000-2003 with year 2003 levels of spending and person trips being the low point with only 54 million outbound trips and $78 million in spending. Growth has been driven by an improving economy and growing household income levels, in spite of a weak dollar, which makes travel to many destinations more expensive, and on-going terrorist threats.
In this report, Mintel clearly identifies the principal external factors driving or curtailing growth. Exclusive consumer research reveals the attitudes, needs and behavior of consumers, with analysis broken down both by demographic characteristics, and by segment.
Six years of specific sales data provide a factual and impartial presentation of the market as a whole. Mintel also evaluates the performance of individual sectors in the market, and provides information about the major companies and brands. Using the SPSS forecasting package, Mintel creates a five-year forecast of U.S. retail sales, revealing potential opportunities for growth and product development. | 
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