TIA Annual Travel Forecast & Top 40 U.S. Restaurants
The Travel Industry Association (TIA) annual travel forecast predicts a decline in business travel and international arrivals, although leisure travel is expected to be stable.
Business travel volume is expected to fall 3.7% in 2008 and a further 2.7% in 2009, followed by a 2% increase in 2010. International arrivals will decline by -1.6% in 2009, and overseas travel to the U.S. is expected to decline 3 percent in 2009 and grow very modestly in 2010. By the end of 2011, overseas arrival still will not exceed the record level in 2000.
The forecast shows that leisure travel volume remains stable for 2008 (-0.2%) and is expected to decline modestly in 2009 (-1.3%). Fully half (48%) of all respondents stated they were not planning any changes to their future travel plans as result of the recent turmoil in the financial markets. Three quarters (76%) “expect to book a packaged vacation to save money” and six out of ten (58%) “plan to comparison shop for prices and rates specifically on the Internet.”
That’s good news for online travel websites offering package deals and price comparison offers like Priceline.com Inc. and Expedia Inc. (who btw just announced their 2008 3rd quarter results).
The TIA forecast also says that seven out of ten (67%) of the respondents expect to “spend less on food, beverages and entertainment” when traveling.
Speaking of food, Gayot.com has come out with their 2008 list of the 40 best restaurants in the U.S., out of which roughly half are dotted around 4 cities, with
- 8 in New York (Daniel, Eleven Madison Park, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Le Cirque, Masa, The Modern, and Per Se)
- 5 in Los Angeles (Mélisse, Patina, Providence, Spago Beverly Hills, and Urasawa)
- 3 each in Chicago (Alinea, Charlie Trotter’s, and Everest) and San Francisco (The Dining Room, Gary Danko, and Michael Mina)
The rest are spread out across the map in cities big and small. So now you know that foodie vacations in New York are officially the best. Photo by cchen via flickr (creative commons).
Posted on October 31st, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Restaurants, Travel News
Great travel forecast predict. I don’t think we travel enthusiasts will travel less, maybe do less things or choose cheaper things while away.
I so wonder if those restaurants would be on MY best restaurants list….?
I don’t agree with food guides so often. I don’t fall for fancy names or such, the food AND the service must be really good too, whether or not it’s common meals or luxury dishes.
Yeah, cap’n, that’s about it - nobody’s going to give up traveling, just that vacation budgets will go down a little bit. And as for the restaurants, I agree with you about the important thing being the food and the service. I myself prefer places which are more easy going and the food tastes great. Places where the waiters are better dressed than you make me uncomfortable. :)