Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

It Gets Worse

Not to completely bum out Destination Marketing Pros...but the number of people that say they expect to travel less for leisure pursuits in the next 12 months has nearly TRIPLED to 28.8% from the same period response rate of 9.2% in 2007. 29.8% expect to spend less on leisure travel, up from 10.9%.

Like yesterday's bad news, the data again comes from The State of the American Traveler study from David Bratton and Destination Analysts. If you're going to be at DMAI in Vegas next week, look for him to learn more.

Staycations? It's Not Funny Anymore.

Yeah, I know that DMO Executives have gotten lots of media mileage over the past few months, touting their efforts to encourage locals to enjoy "staycations" because of high fuel prices.

Of course, I'm happy for them...but, they're just encouraging the behavior.

Our friend Dave Bratton (Destination Analysts) points us to the brand new version of his State of the American Traveler study...which reveals that 24% of Americans now admit to taking a Staycation over the past 12 months.

OK...you can stop now.

Airline Cutbacks Expected to Hurt Hotels

It only makes sense. Fewer arrivals at your airport means fewer travelers looking for hotel rooms.

But PKF Hospitality has released a report that identifies a direct correlation between a reduction in airline seats to hotel stays. And, if the reduction in routes hits the anticipated 10%, PKF estimates that occupancy will drop 3.9%.

MeetingsNet's Sue Pelletier surmises that this decrease will be felt mostly in leisure travel...and not in the meetings market.

I'm not so sure...as the reduction in flights will increase fares. Add the increasingly inane add-on fees and hassle...and I'm thinking a lot of potential attendees will say, "screw it" and stay home.

In any case, hotels in air markets are in for a rocky ride. As are the DMOs upon which they depend.

Ticks on a Plane

Not sure it has quite the Box Office appeal of "Snakes"...but if Samuel L. Jackson will star, the film version of the true story of a United flight that was taken out of service so that three ticks could be escorted off the plane should, err, at least go straight to video.

Well, since the airlines treat us like chimps, I guess we might as well pick bugs out of each others' hair while in flight...

Thanks to our bud John Groh for the catch...

Hotel Meta-Search Defined

Our friend Adam Healey, CEO of VibeAgent (now being re-launched as a hotel search engine), recently posted a great description of just what a Hotel Meta-Search is. And, while it clearly touts the advantages of VibeAgent...he lays out the concept (and the advantages) so that anybody can understand the advantages.

Temporary My Butt

Northwest Airlines has joined in the insanity of charging for the first checked bag...but they say it's only temporary until fuel prices come back down. Right...and that's gonna happen, err, when?

Since all the airlines are gonna do this (except Southwest...which is the only airline that seems to understand how to make a profit), can't y'all just increase your ticket prices $30? Like, all at once? And leave us alone?

Of course not...because that would violate anti-trust laws.

Which are, umm...supposed to protect us from people like you.

As the late, great Sam Kinison would say....Ohhh. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.

Third Best Airline in the World has One Plane

Which, as CEO David Skillicorn admits, makes it a little easier to focus on customer service.

But...as he also says in this great interview from the BBC, "it costs nothing to smile at people and, actually, good service costs nothing either."

What a concept...

And thanks to my friend Stuart Ellis-Myers for the catch.

Maybe $4 Gas IS Working to Encourage Travel Closer to Home

First, the caveats. It's the close of a three-day 4th of July Weekend. The weather in Wisconsin this weekend has been the reason we put up with six months of truly horrible climactic conditions. It couldn't have been more perfect. Cool nights. Warm Days. Light breezes. Virtually cloudless. Nirvana.

Next, the background. While many travel experts were putting on the happy face that $4 gas wasn't going to keep people home, I have been increasingly cautioning that, for many, it would.

Apparently not this weekend in Wisconsin. My folks live in the suburbs of Chicago and I often find myself driving home from visits on Sunday evenings. Never, in 17 years of living in Madison and making this trek, have I seen what I saw last night (and captured at left). A solid, two lane stream of cars that extended from suburban Elgin at just after 8pm to Janesville WI (70 miles) at 9:30pm.

At times, we counted over 100 cars a minutes heading home to the Chicagoland area. From Wisconsin.

I silently thanked each one as they passed, knowing that our economy has been bolstered, my property taxes reduced and our collective Quality of Life improved.

What Does Southwest Know that United Doesn't?

A lot, apparently.

United announces that it will shut down operations in Ft. Lauderdale. The next day, Southwest announces it will increase service to Ft. Lauderdale.

Go figure.

The Bright Spot is One We Can't Measure

After putting on the stoic happy face this spring, more and more tourism talking heads are admitting that this year is gonna be a challenge. As noted in Travel Weekly, new indicators suggest that total travel in 2008 will be flat.

The bright spot, they say, will be an increase in Leisure Tourism this year...before tanking next year. Reading between the lines suggests that business knows there's a large pothole ahead, but American consumers are whistling past the graveyard.

So, if the opportunity this year is Leisure, how will Destination Marketers prove their effectiveness in landing it?