USA

Description of Market

Market Overview

Demographics

General Data

Total Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)
GDP Per Capita:  $46,000
Unemployment:  4.6% (2007 est.)Travel Statistics

Passports issued in 2006: 12,133,537
Adventure travelers comprise 1/2 of US adults, or 98 million people
80% of business travelers have business travel policies in place
75% (109.8 million U.S. travelers) include a cultural activity in their holiday plans
41% (59.9 million) attended festivals and fairs
20% (30.2 million) took an educational trip to improve a skill, sport or hobby
 

Number of ARC agents: 30,000 Number of non-ARC agents / work from home / cruise agents, etc.

US travel trends: consumers increasingly use the Internet to research fares before purchasing directly from agents, airlines or online. High/low season for travelers  LOW season: 30October08-11December08 & 25December -31March09 SHOULDER 01April08-15May08 & 05September08-29October08 & 12December08-24December08 

PEAK   May08-04September08   (seasonality varies by destination and channel) Type of holiday: Standard USA holidays observed Trade mix: travel for business or pleasure: Alitalia is primarily a Leisure carrier in our market, maybe 25-30% est. Sources for trip planning - Internet, travel agents, direct reservations Media sources: travel agent, agent@home, travel age west, mailpound, travel channel, conde naste Major corporate agency groups: Increasing number of agents joining major USA consortias to obtain optimal benefits resulting from buying power. No specifics available, but AZ does charge $30 if paper tickets are issued. Typical retail agent has a $30 service fee. Consolidators typically mark up fares by $30 and sell to other agents.

Travel Agent Trends

Year	Store-Front Locations	Agents per Location	Total Store-Front Agents	At-Home Agents
2006	15,900	4	63,600	17,250
2007	13,832	4	56,328	19,838
2008	12,656	4	50,625	22,813
2009	11,580	4	46,322	26,235
2010	10,596	4	42,385	30,170

Confidence in Information Sources

Recommendation of a friend or family member	83%
Information in travel guide books	48%
Recommendations of a travel agent	46%
Information in a company or destination website	42%
Information on the website of an online travel agency such as Expedia or Travelocity, etc.	42%
Articles in newspapers and magazines or programs onTV and radio	37%
Information in travel brochures	32%
Personal comments or reviews appearing ina web lob or "blog"	24%
Information in travel advertising	19%

Travel Agents Influence Growing 2006 vs 2001

Vacation Package or Tour	57%
Hotel or Resorts	53%
Cruise Line	51%
Destination	49%
Travel Insurance	48%
Airline	44%
Car Rental	22%
Train	11%
Overall	54%

CRS
Amadeus	6,203
Apollo/Galileo Systems	6,618
Other	9,182
Sabre	11,643
Worldspan	5,392

Consortium
AAA	3,320
American Express	3,927
Austin Coast/Austin Associates	437
Carlson Wagonlit Travel	2,319
CMA	488
Coast Travel Group	821
Cruise Shoppes	1,684
Ensemble Travel (Giants)	1,950
Five Star Travel Association	1,014
IT Group - International Tours/The Travel Authority/GalaxSea Cruises/BTS Travel Network	925
Jurni	653
Leisure Travel Group, Inc./LTG	1,234
Liberty Travel	803
MAST Vacation Partners	557
NACTA	1,347
None	25,115
OSSN	2,517
Other	2,029
RADIUS	453
Riverside Travel Group	380
STPN Consortium	266
TQ3 Maritz Travel Solutions	339
Travel Design Associates	452
Travel Network	3,511
Travel Savers	2,083
Uniglobe Travel	854
Vacation.com	8,898
Virtuoso	1,237

Foreign Destinations
Africa
Central/Western Africa	35,090
Eastern Africa	35,125
Northern Africa	35,083
Southern Africa	35,395
Asia
Eastern Asia	35,578
Middle East	34,725
Southeastern Asia	35,677
Southern Asia/India	35,341

Australia
Australia and South Pacific	38,026
Tahiti/Fiji	21,147
Caribbean
Eastern Caribbean	42,233
Western Caribbean	42,261
Europe
Eastern Europe and Russia	36,024
France	21,810
Germany	21,315
Greece/Turkey and Mediterranean	37,899
Ireland	21,214
Italy	22,263
Northern Europe/Scandinavia	37,858
Spain/Portugal	21,536
UK and The British Isles	38,143
Western Europe	39,100
The Americas
Central America	37,743
Eastern Canada	37,493
Mexico	41,311
South America	37,641
Western Canada	37,695

Leisure Travel
Escorted Tours	27,705
Groups	31,434
Independent Travel	41,927
Partial Packages	31,571

Domestic Destinations
Alaska	41,700
Arizona and New Mexico	39,810
California (Northern)	40,334
California (Southern)	41,024
Colorado and Utah	39,469
Florida (Northern)	41,709
Florida (Southern)	42,247
Georgia and The Carolinas	39,265
Hawaii	43,002
Midwest States	39,092
Nevada	40,958
New England	39,753
NY, NJ, and PA	39,966
Oregon and Washington	39,017
Southern States	39,421
Wash. DC, MD, and VA	39,670

Alliance Market Share

SkyTeam - 30%
oneworld - 16%
Star Alliance - 23%
Non-alligned - 31%

 

Office Holiday Schedules
Holiday	2008	2009
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1
Memorial Day	May 26	May 25
Independence Day	July 4	July 3
Labor Day	September 1	September 7
Thanksgiving	November 27 & 28	November 26 & 27
Christmas	December 25	December 25