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AAA Hawaii summer travel poll 2011

MEDIA RELEASE

Gas prices have been hovering in the minds of Hawaii residents as they plan their summer vacations, and 60 percent of those who will travel this summer say they are shifting their budgets in other areas to afford their trips, according to a poll by AAA Hawaii.

The AAA Hawaii third annual Summer Travel Poll shows a jump since the Spring Travel Poll in the number of people indicating that high gas prices are affecting their overall budgets – from 59 percent in March to 74 percent now.

At the same time, however, some consumers’ tolerance for higher gas prices could be rising.

In the spring, 34 percent of drivers said they would make major changes in the amount of gasoline they used once it reached $4 a gallon. In the latest poll, just 20 percent said a $4 gas price had caused them to reduce their gas usage.

“The good news for travelers is that gas prices are now on the decline,” said Diane Peterson, AAA Hawaii regional manager. “We expect that will bring more travelers into the last-minute market if they decided against making summer plans in April or May due to gas price uncertainty. Also, many travel providers are offering promotions to encourage last-minute summer travel since space is still available at several popular vacation destinations.”

The percentage of local residents who say they’ll possibly or definitely take a vacation this summer has dropped by 11 percent from the AAA Hawaii summer 2010 poll.

This year, 67 percent say they are considering or will take a summer vacation, compared to 78 percent last year.

For those who do plan summer travel, 59 percent say they’ll take one trip, 28 percent will take two, 12 percent will take three and one percent will take four or more.

Last year, 53 percent took one trip, 33 percent took two, nine percent took three and seven percent took four or more.

Most polled summer vacationers (75 percent) plan to take at least one summer trip to another U.S. state, while 27 percent will take at least one trip within Hawaii.

The most popular destination states are California and Nevada, while the most popular destination cities are Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

Sixty percent of those polled this year say they are cutting back on various discretionary budget expenses so they can afford to take at least one summer vacation.

The most-cited budget cutbacks included:

* Dining at restaurants (35 percent)
* Gasoline usage (27 percent)
* Buying new clothes or shoes (25 percent)
* Bigger or longer trip (17 percent)

More travelers are also using their cell phones to search for discounts they can use on their trip. Thirty-one percent said they now use smartphone discount apps such as the AAA Discounts app for their travel, compared to 12 percent last summer.

Among the 74 percent of Hawaii consumers who said gas prices have impacted their overall budgets, the vast majority of them (83 percent) say they have cut back on unnecessary driving to cope with the higher prices.

Other highlights from the poll:

* Hawaii residents continue to be frugal with their overall entertainment activities in addition to vacations. Sixty-four percent indicated they are changing their entertainment plans for this summer to save money.

* Top activities for this year’s summer vacations include sightseeing (55 percent), visiting family (44 percent), visiting friends (44 percent), shopping (38 percent), visiting attractions (35 percent), pursuing a hobby or sport (22 percent), and visiting a gambling destination (21 percent).

* 40 percent of summer travelers plan to spend a total of $2,000 or less on all their summer trips, and 45 percent plan to spend between $2,000 and $5,000.

* For 39 percent of travelers, their longest summer trip will last from four to seven days, and for 34 percent, it will last eight to 14 days.
For their longest trip of the summer, 85 percent will fly to their destination.

* 56 percent of travelers will stay in a hotel on their longest summer trip, and 15 percent will stay with family.

The AAA Hawaii 2011 Summer Travel Poll was administered by the AAA Hawaii Marketing & Brand Research Department, taken by 383 AAA Hawaii members between May 2 and May 16 and has a +/- margin of error of 4.9 percent.

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