I'm looking for market research for group travel in the US (trips you
would fly to). I'd like to know what types of trips do people take
with friends and family (e.g. Vegas weekends, music festivals,
weddings, family reunions, school trips, bachelor(ette) parties etc).
I want to know types of trips, who goes on them, what do they spend,
how many per year, are there official statistics that track them.
Basically a bottom-up market analysis. I need quality, citable
references for all facts. This needs to be quality information that
I'll feel comfortable putting in a business plan. Please feel free to
ask questions of me. The more detail you give on individual events and
the market, the higher the tip I'm willing to give.

<According to the National Tour Association, the group travel market
in the U.S. is worth $81 billion. Group packages accounted for 40
percent of the U.S. packaged travel market. There is a higher
proportion of non-employed travellers among group packaged travellers,
which can be attributed to a higher number of retirees and students
buying group packages. Group trips are on average 6.3 nights long and
cost $2,824.00. Top destinations are Florida (12%), Nevada (11%) and
California (7%).
http://www.ntaonline.com/0,5978,1_891_0_12599,00.html
http://www.ntaonline.com/staticfiles/ptna_executive_summary.pdf


A study by Premier Tourism Marketing Publications found that the group
travel market is in a strong position with anticipated increases in
2003. Three hundred group travel planners were surveyed. 33% reported
an increase in sales, 55% no change and 12% reported a decline. For
2003, 57% reported an increased level of booking, 41% no change and 2%
a decline.

The popularity of domestic destinations was also surveyed. Most
popular was New England (70%). Second was the Midwest/Great Lakes
(56%) and third was the South (49%).

The number one international destination was Canada (72%) followed by
Europe at 71%.
A full copy of the survey can be obtained by emailing:
survey@premiertourismmarketing.com
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/press_room/pr20021215.html


Premier Tourism Marketing conducted an online survey to find what
destinations group travel organisers were planning on visiting from
November 1st 2003 to April 30th 2004. On average each group had
planned 5.5 trips during this time. Cruises were the number
destination (43%). The West Coast ? 38%, The Northeast ? 34%, The
Midwest ? 28%, The Southeast 26%.

The study also surveyed what areas were considered. The Pacific
Northwest was first followed by Hawaii.

A trend of waiting longer to confirm bookings was identified.
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/press_room/pr20030716.html


Report on the religious group travel market.
The religious group travel market is expanding mainly due to increased
church attendance since 9/11. There are over 450,000 churches in the
U.S. with 50,000 organising group travel. In the last 5 years there
has been a 20% increase in churches running travel programs. Baptists,
Protestants and Methodist travel the most, and Catholics the least.
The biggest growth in this sector is fellowship trips (allowing
bonding between community members). This form of travel is most
popular with baby boomers.

The decision maker is often the pastor of the church.

This group can be reached via mailing lists from American Church Lists
and by advertising in Premier Tourism Marketing Publications and web
services and advertising on denominational web sites.
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/fyi/religious.html>

Report on the market for incentive and employee recreation markets.
This report identifies the market for group travel in this sector.
This is a growing market. The report details the top destinations, top
cities and most popular activities.
http://www.ntaonline.com/staticfiles/map_incentive.pdf


The bank travel market.
There are 10,000 community banks with under 25% organising group travel. 
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/fyi/religious.html

Results of a survey of 2,000 bank travel clubs giving details of the
types of tours they plan.
Historical 63.7%, Casinos 64.1%, Shopping 61.5%, Educational 52.3%,
Dinner Theaters 43.1 %. Ethnic Groups 29.7%, Sport Tours 27%.
http://www.banktravel.com/tpr.html

The NTA provides leads for reaching this market.
http://ntaonline.ntaonline.com/tuesday/2003/feb25/mktg_comm.asp


Active adult residential retirement communities.

There are over 700 AARC?s in the U.S. This group will double in
numbers by 2030. Communities like Del Web employ full-time activities
coordinators who plan travel activities.
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/fyi/aarc.html

Baby boomers are the largest segment of the market. Over the next ten
years they will inherit over seven trillion dollars.
http://www.ossn.com/newsletter/february03.htm

Reaching the target group.
Premier Tourism Marketing publications publish two magazines and a
directory aimed at the group travel market.
Their publications reach 27,000 groups.
http://www.premiertourismmarketing.com/advertising/

According to the Travel Industry Association of America Baby boomers
aged 35-54 took 241 million domestic trips last year. They spend an
average of $491 per trip (excluding transport costs), 14% spent more
than $1,000. Their favourite activities are shopping (31%), outdoor
activities (16%), visiting historical places/museums (13%), going to
the beach (10%), attending cultural events/festivals (9%) and visiting
national and state parks (8%). A full copy of the report can be
purchased (see link below).
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4017358.search?query=+travel%22+%22boomers+spend%22

<Additional links:>

<Travel Industry Association of America ? Domestic travel report.>
<http://www.tia.org/pubs/domestic.asp>

<Baby boomers to drive e-travel sales>
<http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/9853.html>

<According to Allstate National baby boomers expect to spend $7,700 a
year on travel.>
<http://www.dollarsinfo.com/htm/articles.cfm?topic=28&num=89>

<The mature traveller and baby boomers.>
<http://agency.travelwisconsin.com/Research/MarketResearch_Active/maturetravelers.shtm>

<Baby boomers>
<http://agency.travelwisconsin.com/Research/MarketResearch_Active/boomerxer.shtm>

<What do groups spend>
<http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:e_306eD9isIJ:www.buses.org/economic/form.pdf+%22group+travel%22+spend&hl=en&ie=UTF-8>

<Seniors spend more than other groups.>
<http://www.jewishsf.com/bk020719/sup09b.shtml>

<Outlook for cultural heritage tourism>
<http://www.io.com/~tam/article.html>

<Vegas>
<http://21gamble.com/news/Middle-Aged-Gamblers-Spend-Most.php>


<Search strategy:>

<"group travel market">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22group+travel+market%22>

<"bank travel market">
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22bank+travel+market%22>

<"group travel" spend>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22group+travel%22+spend&btnG=Google+Search>

<"group travel market" spend>
<://www.google.com/search?q=%22group+travel+market%22+spend&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N>




<Hope this helps.>

Great answer, really got most of the information that I could hope
for, and certainly all i needed