Tourism Intelligence - Alan J Simpson, Washington, DC

We have been a leading source for Tourism Intelligence for over thirty years and today provide both a media platform and international consultancy to help governments, corporations and individuals with their tourism and leisure projects. What distinguishes us from most other sources is that we have been there, and experienced the same problems faced by tourists, and tourism planners.

The realization creeping through City Halls and Council Chambers is that Tourism is a major industry, and can bring millions of visitor dollars into the local community. The greatest asset to bring these paying guests into town may already be in place, and just needs promoting.

Unfortunately Tourism promotion is usually the first to be cut in times of financial hardship, as it is difficult to accurately quantify the success or failure of tourism promotion dollars.

Tourism, the world's No 1 industry is braced for a potential bonanza, or debilitating oversupply and the key is the retiring Baby Boomer, 76,000,000 in the USA alone. To be successful needs more than just "Build it and they will Come" which worked in the boom years.

The leisure activities and leisure priorities of these retiring Baby Boomers, and the generations after them are changing. Since our studies in the 1990's in Florida we saw tourists looking for a more diverse leisure activity. The cost of fuel and accommodation is making the decision more difficult. Alternatives are being sought.

The pressure of travel and desire to escape from the pressure cooker environment of modern cities has opened the door to previously declining tourism sectors, such as Fishing Tourism and Food Tourism. The boost for Fishing Tourism has come from television, and such unlikely programs as The Most Dangerous Catch have promoted Fishing Tourism in Alaska, and the many high dollar Bass and Sea Fishing Tournaments on ESPN taken many a father and son to the waters edge. In the years ahead the cost of participation will have a greater impact on the family vacation. As will the return to a vacation being relaxing and revitalizing, not just a frenzied thrill ride.

Travel and Tourism is a $1.3 trillion industry in the United States
Travel and Tourism generates $100 billion in tax revenue for local, state, and federal governments
Each U.S. household would pay $898 more in taxes without the tax revenue generated by the Travel and Tourism Industry
The Travel and Tourism industry is one of the country's largest employers with 7.3 million direct travel-generated jobs
There is $162 billion direct travel-generated payroll and that one out of every eight U.S. non-farm jobs is directly and indirectly created by travel and tourism.
International travelers spent $94 billion in the U.S. in 2004
Shopping is the most popular domestic trip activity, and is included in 30 percent of all domestic trips. In total, that's 342 million trips with shopping sprees.
Approximately 2.6 million hotels rooms are sold everyday in the United States.
80 percent of adult travelers (over 118 million people) have included an historic or cultural activity while traveling.
Spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $1.6 billion a day, $68 million an hour, $1.1 million a minute, and $19,000 a second.
The travel and tourism industry is one of America's largest service exports with $94 billion spent by international visitors in the U.S. and 88 billion spent outside the U.S. by domestic travelers creates $6 billion in balance of trade surplus for the U.S.
Americans plan to take 328 million leisure trips during June, July, and August—up 2.3 percent over summer 2004
Just a 1 percent increase in U.S. worldwide market share would equal a 7.6 million increase in visitors, a $12.3 billion increase in expenditures, 151,000 new jobs, a $3.3 billion increase in payroll, and $2.1 billion more in federal, state and local tax revenue

LTN has been taking careful note of the Baby Boomers about to retire and how that will affect the Leisure industry: