Expedia Travel Trendwatch

Expedia Travel Trendwatch is a quarterly report on consumer travel trends, plus insight and tips from Expedia, the world's leading online travel company. For the latest report, please see the press release or visit www.expedia.com/tips.

Latest Edition
The Fall 2009 issue of the Trendwatch shows that the significant travel values consumers enjoyed over the summer will remain in place through the fall travel season. The report also highlights an overall decline in business travel since 2008 that continues to create opportunities for leisure travelers in major destinations that traditionally have depended on “road warriors” for fall revenue.

The quarterly Expedia Travel Trendwatch is just the tip of the iceberg of Expedia's data. For more information and regional statistics and trends, please e-mail us at ExpediaPR@edelman.com.

Key highlights from this issue include:

1. Overall Decline in Business Travel Creates Opportunity for Savings

• Business travelers still hitting the road are finding that lower prices are allowing them to extend business trips into leisure trips. In fact, in a survey of frequent Expedia® travelers, 22 percent plan to combine a business trip with leisure travel this fall.
• Top business travel destinations are responding to the decline in business travel by offering significant values in air + hotel package prices. Average package prices have declined 29 percent year-over-year in New York, 22 percent in Los Angeles and 17 percent in Chicago.

2. Thanksgiving Travel Preview

• Due to continuing air capacity cuts, expect holiday flights to be crowded and sold out. The best holiday travel advice? Consumers should book early, especially if they plan to travel on peak days such as the days and weekends just before and after the holiday.
• Silver lining: if consumers book Thanksgiving travel now, flight prices are currently lower than last year. On average, domestic airfares are down 17 percent compared to last year, for travel Nov. 23-30.
• Average airfares to the following destinations are lower for the Thanksgiving travel period: Washington, D.C.: down 22 percent; New York: down 21 percent; and Los Angeles: down 18 percent.

3. Tip: Hit the Road on a Fall Foliage Getaway

• Twenty-one percent of Expedia customers polled are planning to take a road trip this fall. A road trip to check out fall foliage or a regional harvest festival is the perfect fall getaway for any family.
• Some of the most popular places in the U.S. to see fall colors are also seeing lower hotel rates this year. For example, in Boston hotel rates are down 19 percent compared to last fall; in Aspen, rates are down 11 percent; and in Vermont rates are down 9 percent.