From vacations to staycations, find stories in your area's tourism industry. Photo by iStock
With Fourth of July fireworks doused for another year, it?s a good time to check up on the status of your area?s tourism industry.? Independence Day means that summer is well underway and by now area hospitality businesses, theme parks, attractions and campgrounds should have a pretty good idea of how 2012 is shaping up.
It?s a colorful story that can be fun to report and really lends itself to multimedia. Consider, for example, an online?slide show of photos from local venues like amusement parks, hotels or RV centers and touristy restaurants with substantive details ? tickets sold year-to-date, or numbr of advance bookings compared to last year, or lobster tails served.? Nitty-gritty factoids like that can make the abstract accessible.
This Wyndham Hotel Groups survey says global vacation spending is expected to increase this year, with 35 percent saying they would spend more and 70 percent planning to spend the same or more as last year.??
Of course, your region will be affected by a variety of factors, including recent weather mayhem, wildfires, the Cape Cod shark sightings and continued economic malaise.? And the website RetailMeNot.com is reporting that quite a few vacations are financed via credit card rather than with funds set aside in advance.? Which may explain the report I heard the other day about ?vacation layway? services ? apparently they are quite common; just Google the term and? a geographic keyword reflecting your market; it would be interesting to whip up a personal finance piece noting the pros, cons and costs of this method.?
Other ideas abound; you?ll just need to tailor to the characteristics of your market.?
Airport traffic would be an interesting indicator; you can get monthly figures from the Airports Council International; I?m not sure how to break out leisure traffic but your local airport authority or the airlines themselves might have figures.? AAA in your state may have auto-travel stats, and the national AAA newsroom offers plenty of resources, including the @AAANEWS Twitter feed.
I would be interested in the pace of group ticket sales at area attractions like museums, ballparks, roller-coaster parks, nature activities and the like; are more or fewer corporate picnic sales taking place, or church/school groups, etc., than in the previous few years??
What about marinas?? I?d ask for fuel sales year-to-date compared to prior years, as well as service and sales activities.? Some marinas rent boats, as well, for day trips on lakes and rivers.
Other possible angles would include sales of fishing equipment and permits, canoe-livery rentals and even ? for a quirky indicator ? sales of luggage at area department and discount stores.??
Don?t forget about the staycation crowd, too, because they pump up a local economy.? According to a recent American Express survey cited by CNBC, parents are spending around $600 to keep kids occupied this summer, on activities like camps and roller coasters and educational events.?
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