March Travel Research Shows Good News

Like you, I get at least one e-mail a day making predictions or providing new stats on how the current economic conditions impact the travel industry. So now it's my turn to jump into the middle of the conversation. I hope this post provides you with "news you can use" as you navigate through this new terrain.

Our department is committed to providing you with relevant data and trends regarding the strength and health of tourism in Oklahoma. To that end, we are conducting quarterly "Consumer Travel Pulse" research which surveys 500 primary or joint vacation decision makers in our in-state and out-of-state market areas. This online study measures intent to travel, reasons for traveling or not traveling, destination choice and other key indicators to help us all make informed tourism marketing decisions.

In March, we completed our first survey round and the news was positive. The bottom line: Our regional market offers potential for the summer travel season - 40% surveyed said they would consider a trip to Oklahoma this year and 11% said they have already traveled in the state or are still planning to this year.

Below are some highlights from the March survey. Click here to view the entire report on TravelOK.com. The survey will be reapeated in June and early September.

• Half of those surveyed are planning a vacation or get-away in 2009.



• 21% haven’t decided if they are taking a trip. This group shows potential as they could still be persuaded to come to Oklahoma in 2009.


• 12% already took a trip in 2009.


• 7% don’t plan to take a trip in 2009.
  Economy (47%) is the biggest reason cited for not taking a trip this year.,


• Of those who said “no or haven’t decided yet,” 53% say there’s a chance they may still take a trip.

• Of those who said they were planning to take a trip in 2009, 11% said they went or plan to go to Oklahoma (TX 24%, MO 23%, FL 17%, AR 15%, Don’t Know 15%)


• 42% of all surveyed said they had vacationed or taken a get-away in Oklahoma before.


• About 40% of all surveyed said they would consider a vacation or get-away in Oklahoma.

In a time when many are saying "flat is the new up," our March 2009 visitation numbers for the Oklahoma Tourism Information Centers and inquiries for travel information are tracking above last year's numbers. For spring break, visitation at the TICs was up 11.79% over last year. Overall, total March visitation at the centers was up 50% over February.

We have also created a monthly "Monthly Snapshot of Economic Indicators" report to track statistics important to our industry, such as the sales and use tax collections which fund our advertising efforts, hotel occupancy, leisure and hospitality employment and airport traffic. We will be posting this report on the industry section of TravelOK.com every month.

As for inquires into our call center, phone volume is up about 30% over last March and brochure orders are up about 22%. Unique visitors to TravelOK.com increased 37% in March 09 over February 09, with 85,707 people coming to our site in March. (Year to date comparison is not available because of the new analytics now in place.) Our Oklahoma tourism commercials hit the air on March 23, so we will definitely be monitoring these trends closely to see how we move the needle. All of our advertising this year will carry the "value" message which we know will resonate with consumers who are looking for ways to stretch their travel dollars. I'll keep you posted on the results.

We would love to hear from you to learn what special programs and promotions you have planned for this travel season, or to find out how your numbers are tracking so far. If you would like more information on the Consumer Travel Pulse or other programs, please e-mail me.

Thanks!