Expedia's Predictions Bode Well for Luxury Vacation Rentals
January 25, 2007. The Expedia Travel Trendwatch quarterly report predicts a nice finish to the winter travel season and a robust spring break. That's good news for luxury vacation rental owners with concerns about unseasonably warm weather, new U.S. passport rules and recent reports touting lukewarm numbers.
The Expedia report, released yesterday, included a consumer survey conducted by Harris Interactive in which 82 percent of U.S. adults said they planned to travel by air "as much or more this spring as last spring." Of those surveyed, 74 percent did not seem concerned about having to obtain a passport to reenter the country after visiting the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, or Central and South America.
Weather also has been a wild card this winter. Lake Tahoe and the Northeast began the season with a slow start, but Colorado received so much snow the Denver International Airport shut down. Still, the National Ski Areas Association said this season is on track to surpass last season in skier visits, according to Expedia.
The positive numbers from Expedia are especially welcome given the other news of this past week. On Jan. 21, we reported weak occupancy rates in the first weeks of 2007 from Smith Travel Research, and the Travel Industry Association published a report Tuesday showing travel to the U.S. from overseas has declined 17 percent since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Fortunately, a strong turnout from Americans this year should bode well for luxury vacation rentals.
