Singles and Travel - US - March 2006

Table of Contents

• Introduction and Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Other relevant reports
• Definition
• Data for this report
• Abbreviations & terms
• Abbreviations
• Terms
• Executive Summary
• Overall size and travel activity of single population
• Major demographic factors shaping the single population
• Income is a key driver for travel among singles
• Future demographic trends
• Three key demographic groups of singles
• Young singles aged 18-35
• Singles aged 35-65, from prime working age to retirement
• Baby Boomers
• Single boomer women
• Older singles 65 and older
• Overall market size and broad trends in the travel industry
• Growth in niche travel
• Travel planning and booking
• Travel preferences: companions, purpose, activities and barriers totravel
• Travel destination
• Cruises, theme parks and resortsForeign travelOverall domestic travelTransport and accommodation
• Use of planes for domestic travelUse of cars and car rentalLodgingMarket forecast
• Demographics of Singles
• Overall travel activity
  • Figure 1: Travel spending and length ofhotel stay, May 2004-May 2005
• Singles by age group
  • Figure 2: Unmarried U.S. population byage, 2003
• Singles and the role of income on travel
• Income by age
  • Figure 3: Median household income perhousehold member, by age of householder, 2003
• Discretionary income by age
  • Figure 4: Households with discretionaryincome, by age of householder, 2000
• Income as driver for travel among singles
  • Figure 5: Travel penetration, by householdincome, for singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 6: Travel activity in the last 12months, by household income, May 2004-May 2005
• Single population on the basis of gender
  • Figure 7: Marital status by age andgender, 2003
• Singles by race/ethnicity
  • Figure 8: U.S. population by age andrace/Hispanic origin, 2005
  • Figure 9: Marital status by race andHispanic origin, 2003
  • Figure 10: Marital status by age andrace/Hispanic origin, 2003
• The single population in 2010: Projected demographic changes by ageand ethnicity
• Age: Baby Boomers a major demographic
  • Figure 11: Population projections, by age,2000-10
• Race/ethnicity - a more diverse population
  • Figure 12: U.S. population, byrace/ethnicity, 2000-10
• Three Major Groups of Singles by Generation and Cohort
• Age: Generational tendencies and travel habits of three singlegroups
• Young singles, 18-35: profile, tendencies and habits
• Young singles: never married, multi-ethnic, seeking adventure andromance
  • Figure 13: Marital status of thepopulation aged 18-34 by race and Hispanic origin, 2003
• Young singles as part of the Gen X and Echo Boomer generationsMiddle-aged and older singles, 35-55+: profile, tendencies andhabits
• Singles aged 35-65--higher incomes, more whites and many divorcees
  • Figure 14: Marital status of thepopulation aged 35-65, by race and Hispanic origin, 2003
• The baby boom generation: a major boom for travelSeniors and retired singles, 65+: profile, tendencies and habits
• Singles aged 65+--fixed incomes, more sedate lifestyles and morewidowed singles
  • Figure 15: Marital status of thepopulation aged 65+, by race and Hispanic origin, 2003
• Swing generation--more conservative travelers
• Cohorts: generational tendencies and travel habits of three singlegroups
• Younger singles, mid-20s to early-30s
• Megan and Jason, students and recent graduates
• Ryan and Allison, energetic young guys and educated working women
• Middle-aged and Baby Boomer singles--late 30s to late 50s
• Single parents: Andrea and Randy
• Affluent career-oriented singles--Elizabeth, Jonathan and Sean
• Comfortable Boomers: Virginia and Harry
• Senior and retired singles--over 60
• Market Size and Trends
• Travel: overall market size
  • Figure 16: Travel expenditures in theU.S., at current and constant prices, 1999-2005
  • Figure 17: Graph: Travel expenditures inthe U.S., at current and constant prices, 1999-2005
• Sector trends
• Plane travel
• Lodging and accommodation
• Car travel and car rental
• Cruises
• Theme parks
• Packaged tours
• Other trends:
• Trips tend to be shorter
• The Internet--transforming booking, information and packaging
• Penetration of Internet use for travel services
• Trends in online booking and marketing of travel products
• Safety concerns diminished, but lingering
• Travel TV networks, magazines and websites
• Niche travel: Specific consumer groups and new products
• Travel products for younger singles
• Special interest products and packages
• Inter-generational and group trave
• lWomen-only travel
• Travel products oriented toward "wellness"
• Child-free tours, hotels and flights
• Travel Planning and Reservations
• Introduction
• Methods of booking travel
  • Figure 18: Method of booking hotel,airfare, and car rentals, October 2004
• Responsibility for making travel arrangements
  • Figure 19: Responsibility for travelplanning, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 20: Responsibility for travelplanning, for couples without children, by age, December 2005
• Online booking of hotels
  • Figure 21: Online hotel booking, all vs.singles, December 2005
  • Figure 22: Online hotel booking, all vs.singles, by gender, December 2005
  • Figure 23: Online hotel booking, forsingles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 24: Online hotel booking, forsingles, by household income, December 2005
• Online booking of plane travel
  • Figure 25: Online booking airline tickets,all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 26: Online booking airline tickets,for singles, by gender, December 2005
  • Figure 27: Online booking airline tickets,for singles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 28: Online booking airline tickets,for singles, by household income. December 2005
• Willingness to sacrifice time and convenience for low fares
  • Figure 29: Importance of low fares, allvs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 30: Importance of low fares, forsingles, by age December 2005
• Seeking ideas for destinations
  • Figure 31: Use of travel magazines, allvs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 32: Use of travel magazines, forsingles, by household income, December 2005
• Summary of key travel planning points
• Travel Preferences and Activity
• Introduction
• Frequency of leisure travel that uses travel services
  • Figure 33: Frequency of leisure travelusing travel services in last 12 months, for single respondents, by ageand income, December 2005
• Travel companions
  • Figure 34: Travel partners on last leisuretrip, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 35: Travel partners on leisuretrips of last two years, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 36: Travel partners for singles, bygender, December 2005
  • Figure 37: Travel partner on last leisuretrip, for singles, by age, December 2005
• Primary purpose of most recent trip
  • Figure 38: Primary purpose of the lasttrip, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 39: Primary purpose of trips takenin the last two years for singles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 40: Primary purpose of trips takenin the last two years for singles, by household income, December 2005
  • Figure 41: Activities undertaken duringtrips in the last two years, all vs. singles, December 2005
• Preferences for short trips
  • Figure 42: Preference for shorter trips,all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 43: Preference for shorter trips,for singles, by gender, December 2005
  • Figure 44: Preference for shorter trips,for singles, by age, December 2005
• Reasons for not traveling more frequently
  • Figure 45: Reasons for not traveling, forsingles, by gender, December 2005
  • Figure 46: Reasons for not traveling, forsingles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 47: Reasons for not traveling, forsingles, by household income, December 2005
  • Figure 48: Reasons for not traveling, forsingles, by race/ethnicity, December 2005
• Summary of key travel preference points
• Cruises, Resorts, Packaged Tours, and Theme Parks
  • Figure 49: Cruise ship vacation taken inthe last three years, for singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 50: Cruise ship vacation taken inthe last three years, for singles, by age, income and cohorts, May2004-May 2005
  • Figure 51: Type of resort visited in thelast 12 months, all vs. singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 52: Type of resort visited in thelast 12 months, by singles cohorts, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 53: Theme park visited in the past12 months, all vs. singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 54: Theme park visited in the past12 months, for singles, by cohort, May 2004-May 2005
• Foreign Travel
• Introduction
• Foreign travel and flights in last three years
  • Figure 55: Foreign travel by plane in thelast 3 years, all vs. singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 56: Foreign travel in the lastthree years among singles, by age, income and cohorts, Spring 2005
• Purpose of recent foreign travel
  • Figure 57: Motivations for last trip to aforeign country, all vs. singles, by gender, Spring 2005
• Accommodation during foreign travel
  • Figure 58: Type of accommodation used onlast trip to a foreign country, for singles, and by age, May 2004-May2005
• Popular foreign travel destinations
  • Figure 59: Destination for last trip to aforeign country, for singles and by age, May 2004-May 2005
• Transportation to a foreign destination
  • Figure 60: Method of transportation usedfor last trip taken to a foreign country, all vs. singles, by gender,May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 61: Method of transportation usedfor last trip taken to a foreign country for singles, by age, May2004-May 2005
• Summary
• Domestic Travel
• Introduction
• Penetration of domestic travel
  • Figure 62: Domestic travel in the last 12months, all vs. singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 63: Domestic travel of singles, byage, income and cohorts, May 2004-May 2005
• How much spent on last domestic trip
  • Figure 64: Expenditure on last domestictrip of singles, age, gender, race and income and cohorts, May 2004-May2005
• Destination state for last domestic trip
  • Figure 65: Destination state for lastdomestic trip in the last 12 months, singles, May 2004-May 2005
• Summary
• Domestic Plane Travel
• Overall use of planes and number of flights
  • Figure 66: Incidence of taking a domestictrip by plane and average number of trips taken in the last three yearsamong singles, by age, income and cohorts, Spring 2005
• Last minute trips by plane
  • Figure 67: Incidence of taking last minutetrips by plane, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 68: Incidence of taking last minutetrips by plane, for singles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 69: Incidence of taking last minutetrips by plane, for singles, by household income, December 2005
• Dedicated flights for those without children
  • Figure 70: Attitudes towards dedicatedflights for those traveling without children, all vs. singles, December2005
  • Figure 71: Attitudes towards dedicatedflights for those traveling without children, for singles, by age,December 2005
• Summary
• Car Travel
• Introduction
• Fly vs. drive
  • Figure 72: Time will drive beforepreferring to fly, for singles, by age December 2005
  • Figure 73: Time will drive beforepreferring to fly, for singles, by household income, December 2005
• Renting a vehicle for business or personal use
  • Figure 74: Vehicle rental in the last 12months, for singles, by age, gender, race, income and cohorts, May2004-May 2005
• Last minute trips by car
  • Figure 75: Last minute trips by car, allvs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 76: Last minute trips by car, forsingles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 77: Last minute trips by car, forsingles, by household income, December 2005
• Summary
• Lodging
• Choice of lodging, most recent domestic trip
  • Figure 78: Accommodations for lastdomestic trip, all vs. singles, May 2004-May 2005
  • Figure 79: Accommodations for lastdomestic trip, for singles, by income, May 2004-May 2005
• Extent of domestic hotel/motel usage
  • Figure 80: Domestic travel in the last 12months and length of hotel/motel stay, all vs. singles, May 2004-May2005
  • Figure 81: Domestic travel in the last 12months and length of hotel/motel stay, for singles, by age, May 2004-May2005
  • Figure 82: Domestic travel in the last 12months and length of hotel/motel stay, by household income, May 2004-May2005
• Attitudes toward hotels
  • Figure 83: Attitudes towards hotels, allvs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 84: Attitudes towards hotels, forsingles, by gender, December 2005
  • Figure 85: Attitudes towards hotels, forsingles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 86: Attitudes towards hotels, forsingles, by household income, December 2005
• Preferences for boutique hotels
  • Figure 87: Preference for staying inboutique hotels, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 88: Preference for staying inboutique hotels, for singles, by age, December 2005
  • Figure 89: Preference for staying inboutique hotels, for singles, by household income, December 2005
• Loyalty to a particular hotel or hotel chain
  • Figure 90: Hotel loyalty, all vs. singles,December 2005
  • Figure 91: Hotel loyalty, for singles, bygender, December 2005
  • Figure 92: Hotel loyalty, for singles, byage, December 2005
  • Figure 93: Hotel loyalty, for singles, byhousehold income, December 2005
• Dedicated hotel areas for those without children
  • Figure 94: Attitudes towards childfreehotel areas, all vs. singles, December 2005
  • Figure 95: Attitudes towards child freehotel areas, for singles, by age, December 2005
• Summary
• Market forecast
• U.S. travel expenditures
  • Figure 96: Forecast of total U.S. travelexpenditures, at current and constant prices, 2005-10
  • Figure 97: Graph: Forecast of total U.S.travel expenditures, at current and constant prices, 2005-10
• Forecast factors
• Appendix: Trade Associations
• Appendix: Simmons Cohorts
  • Figure 98: Married couples cohorts
  • Figure 99: Single women cohorts
  • Figure 100: Single men cohorts