AAA Hawaii Holiday Travel Poll Shows Economy's Effect on Residents' Trip Plans, Budgets

HONOLULU, HI, Nov 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
Despite continuing economic challenges, 83 percent of Hawaii residents
who plan to travel over the November and December holidays say they will
spend the same amount or more on their upcoming holiday getaways,
according to a new poll conducted by the AAA Market Research Department.

The online survey of AAA Hawaii members also found that 52 percent of
those planning holiday trips say they'll spend less than $1,500 on holiday
travel, while 82 percent plan to spend $3,000 or less.

Nearly half (46 percent) of all those polled said they will definitely not
take an overnight trip at least 50 miles from home this holiday season,
and another 12 percent are still undecided about whether they will travel.
Among those who say they definitely won't travel, 32 percent cited the
economy as a major or sizeable influence on their decision, while 41
percent said it had little to no influence on deciding not to travel.

"We will find out in the next few weeks whether to expect an increase or
decrease in Thanksgiving and December holiday travel compared to last
year's holidays, but we do see many local travelers seeking ways to save
money and taking advantage of travel bargains created by the economic
downturn to get even more for their money," said AAA Hawaii acting manager
Warren Moore. "For example, 25 percent of our members in this poll said
they plan to use an affinity program such as AAA Discounts to get reduced
hotel rates."

Other popular ways that holiday travelers in the poll said they planned to
save money on their upcoming trips included:

1) Redeeming loyalty points/miles for free/reduced cost plane ticket
(37 percent)
2) Staying with friends/family instead of a hotel (36 percent)
3) Reducing shopping/souvenir budget (29 percent)
4) Using an affinity program such as AAA Discounts to get a reduced
hotel rate (25 percent)
5) Redeeming loyalty points/miles for free/reduced cost hotel stay
(20 percent)
6) Reducing budget for meals/snacks on the trip (17 percent)
7) Flying coach instead of business/first class (17 percent)
8) Taking a shorter vacation (16 percent)
9) Staying in a less expensive hotel (16 percent)
10) Cutting the vacation entertainment budget (16 percent)

The most popular activities during holiday trips, according to the
poll, are visiting family (64 percent), visiting friends (39 percent),
celebrating the holiday (38 percent), shopping (37 percent), sightseeing
(31 percent), maintaining a family tradition of traveling during the
holidays (14 percent) and spa/relaxation (14 percent).

Of the Aloha State residents planning to take at least one holiday trip
the rest of this year, the most popular destinations included traveling
out of state (63 percent), traveling within Hawaii (26 percent), going to
a gambling destination such as Las Vegas (20 percent), traveling
internationally (14 percent) and going to a tropical destination (five
percent).

The travel poll was part of a survey that also asked Hawaii consumers
about their overall holiday shopping plans. The shopping portion of the
poll revealed that most consumers don't plan to cut back on the number of
people on their holiday gift lists, but a majority of them do plan to cut
their holiday shopping budgets this year.

More information about AAA discounts on lodgings, restaurants and other
travel is available at AAA.com/save or at the AAA Hawaii office, 1130
Nimitz Highway, Suite A170, where members can get the new Member Saver
booklet outlining discounts and special offers for members.

Contact:
Warren Moore
(808) 593-2221

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