Americans Gear Up for Great Escapes This Autumn

NEWTON, Mass., Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor®, the world's largest travel site*, today announced the results of its annual fall and Labor Day travel survey of more than 2,000 U.S. travelers. Eighty-six percent are planning leisure trips this coming fall, compared to 73 percent that said they took trips last fall. Seventy-eight percent say the economy is not having any effect on their fall travel plans, while 42 percent plan to take their biggest trip of 2010 this autumn.

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Fall Travel Findings and Finances

• 36 percent expect to take one trip this fall, while 41 percent are planning two getaways.
• 45 percent plan to spend more on travel this fall than in autumn 2009, while 41 percent expect to spend the same amount.
• Of those planning fall leisure trips, 90 percent plan to spend more than $500 on their travels.  
• 21 percent of those planning leisure trips expect to spend $1,000 - $2,000.
• 33 percent intend to spend over $3,000 on fall leisure trips.
• Among those planning to travel this fall, 37 percent plan to travel internationally, with Paris, London and Rome the most popular overseas destinations.

Favorite Fall Settings

• City trips are travelers' top choice for fall, with 54 percent planning an urban getaway.
• 39 percent plan to take a beachside break.
• 32 percent will get back to nature in the countryside.
• 15 percent will head for the great outdoors, with a visit to a national park.
• 11 percent will set sail on a cruise.

Top 10 Most Browsed U.S. Hotspots

Below are the top 10 U.S. destinations that the millions of travelers on TripAdvisor.com™ have been browsing in the past month, suggesting these may be America's travel hotspots this fall.

1. New York City, New York
2. Las Vegas, Nevada
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Honolulu, Hawaii
5. San Francisco, California
6. Chicago, Illinois
7. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
8. Boston, Massachusetts
9. San Diego, California
10. Los Angeles, California

Top Five Fall Activities

1. Viewing colorful fall foliage – 43%
2. Wine tasting or visiting a vineyard – 28%
3. Visiting a state or county fair – 23%
4. Attending a football game – 21%
5. Apple picking – 13%

Labor Day Travel Trends

• 28 percent expect to travel for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, down slightly from 30 percent one year ago.
• Among those traveling for Labor Day weekend, 66 percent plan to drive to their destination, down from 70 percent last year.
• 36 percent of those traveling for Labor Day weekend plan to fly, up from 33 percent one year ago.
• The busiest getaway day looks to be Friday, September 3, with 35 percent planning to travel on this date.
• The majority of travelers (39 percent) will travel home on Monday, September 6.

America's Top Labor Day Destinations

In a separate survey of more than 5,000 TripAdvisor members, below are the top 10 favorite U.S. Labor Day destinations:

1. Cape Cod, Massachusetts
2. Mackinaw City/Mackinac Island, Michigan
3. Outer Banks, North Carolina
4. San Francisco, California
5. San Diego, California
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Destin, Florida
8. Las Vegas, Nevada
9. New York City, New York
10. New Orleans, Louisiana

"The vast majority of U.S. travelers plan to enjoy a fall getaway in the coming months, and checking out the season's beautiful foliage and visiting vineyards top the autumnal adventures this year," said Karen Drake, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor® is the world's largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features (including Flights search, TripAdvisor Mobile and TripAdvisor Trip Friends) with seamless links to booking tools.

TripAdvisor® Media Network, operated by TripAdvisor LLC, attracts more than 50 million monthly visitors* across 17 popular travel brands: www.tripadvisor.com, www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com,  www.frequentflier.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.travel-library.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com and www.kuxun.cn. TripAdvisor-branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 35 million unique monthly visitors*, 20 million members, and over 35 million reviews and opinions. The sites operate in 21 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com (http://www.daodao.com). TripAdvisor also operates TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to TripAdvisor's millions of monthly visitors. The division includes Business Listings, which allows hoteliers to connect directly to millions of researching travelers, and Vacation Rentals, which helps property managers and individual home owners list their properties and showcase hotel alternatives.

TripAdvisor and the sites comprising the TripAdvisor Media Network are operating companies of Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE).

TripAdvisor and TripAdvisor.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of TripAdvisor LLC in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.

*Source: comScore Media Metrix, Worldwide, June 2010

SOURCE TripAdvisor