Credit Crunch Does Not Deter US Travellers

24/07/2008 by Tabitha Holland

The summer is in full swing but the credit crunch has affected many peoples travel plans. In the US, however, tourism is booming as Americans still seek holiday opportunities abroad.

Fewer people are travelling these days but in the US, despite the weak dollar and rising fuel prices, US citizens are still going away. They may not be going as far as before but they are spending more than ever in foreign lands.

"Prices are skyrocketing, this has affected high air fares, rising fuel prices and increased fees for hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and the like," says Christian Clarke of www.globalvisas.com, immigration and visa experts. He adds, "This may have acted as a deterrent for some, but in the US the travel bug is still alive and kicking within many." And a recent Visa Inc report highlights this.

Of the 1 000 surveyed Visa debit and credit card holders, two thirds of the respondents said they were keen to travel overseas and half admitted to planning a foreign trip in the next year.

Americans are estimated to take as many as 327 million holidays this summer holiday season, this is still an up to 1.5% decline from last year, however these numbers remain high in terms of the current unstable financial context.

And those who were not eager to travel blame it on high and growing costs, as well as economic uncertainty. Unlike the perceptions of about four years ago, terrorism was cited as a reason not to travel by just 14% of respondents. These people still plan to travel this year, however aim to keep it local.

Americans may not be dissuaded from travelling but they are remaining closer to home in terms of destinations of choice. The most popular international holiday destination among those surveyed was the US neighbour Canada, followed by Mexico.

As much as $3.4 billion was spent by US Visa card holders while travelling abroad in the first quarter of this year. This is even more than all the money spent on overseas travelling throughout 2007.

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