Hotwire Survey Reveals that Americans Spend Nearly $185 Billion on "Obli-cations"

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotwire.com®, a leading discount travel site, today revealed more results from its third annual American Travel Behavior Survey, conducted online on its behalf by Harris Poll in October 2013 among over 2,000 U.S. adults. According to the survey, American adults spent nearly $185 billion¹ on trips they felt obliged to take² during the last 12 months. With so much money allocated to obligatory travel, travelers may be thinking about putting off the fun trips they want to take. Fortunately, the travel experts at Hotwire® have compiled a list of 10 fantastic destinations that offer the most affordable hotel options during the latter half of summer—all of which are showing average nightly rates of less than $100 a night.

"Every year, many Americans set aside travel budgets only to find that obligatory events like weddings, birthdays and even holidays often hinder their leisure trip plans," said Henrik Kjellberg, president of the Hotwire® Group. "That's where we come in; Hotwire is a great resource for making either 'obli-cations' or vacations more affordable, and late summer looks like the perfect time to take the latter, with an array of popular destinations offering some stellar deals."

A further breakdown on how much money American adults spent on obligation travel in the past 12 months includes:

• Spent an average of $32 billion³ on obligation trips for birthdays
• Spent an average of $20 billion⁴ on obligation trips to weddings of family and friends
• Spent an average of $11 billion⁵ on obligation trips for reunions
• Spent an average of $7 billion⁶ on obligation trips for baby/wedding showers

No matter what type of trip they've had to take, obligatory travelers will be delighted to hear that mid-to late-summer discounts are deep enough for them to fit the "just for fun" trip they've been desiring (and deserve) into their budget. Of the 25 most popular destinations during mid- to late-summer, here are the top 10 most affordable, based on average nightly rates for hotels: 

*The 10 destinations and average prices for mid- to late-summer are based on hotel bookings made on Hotwire.com from 5/1- 6/11/14 for travel between 8/1-9/30/14 compared to bookings made on Hotwire from 5/1 - 6/11/13 for travel between 8/1-9/30/13.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Hotwire from October 8-10, 2013 among 2,020 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact [email protected]. 

About Hotwire

Hotwire.com is a leading discount travel site with low rates on airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and vacation packages.  Launched in 2000, Hotwire, Inc. obtains deep discounts from its travel suppliers to help travelers book unsold airline seats, hotel rooms and rental cars.  Hotwire.com is an award winning website and Hotwire, Inc. is an operating company within Expedia, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.hotwire.com. Hotwire.com operates sites in 12 countries worldwide: www.hotwire.com, www.hotwire.com/uk, www.hotwire.com/ie, www.hotwire.com/au, www.hotwire.com/nz, www.hotwire.com/se, www.hotwire.com/no, www.hotwire.com/dk, www.hotwire.com/de, www.hotwire.com/hk, www.hotwire.com/mx and www.hotwire.com/sg. In addition to Hotwire.com, Hotwire, Inc. also operates www.carrentals.com.  

© 2014 Hotwire, Inc.  All rights reserved. Hotwire, Hotwire.com and the Hotwire logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  CST # 2053390-40.

Contact:
Monica Caires
Grayling
(323) 648-5426
[email protected]

¹Calculation based on U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 Census, which estimates there are 234.6 million adults ages 18+ residing in the United States: Average amount spent for obligation trips per person $788 in the past 12 months multiplied by estimated number of adults total
²Obligatory travel includes how much you spent on accommodation, travel, fuel and other travel related costs for you and your immediate family in the past 12 months
³Average of $137 spent in the past 12 months per person multiplied by 234.6 million U.S. adults
⁴Average of $89 spent in the past 12 months per person multiplied by 234.6 million U.S. adults
⁵Average of $50 spent in the past 12 months per person multiplied by 234.6 million U.S. adults
⁶Average of $33 spent in the past 12 months per person multiplied by 234.6 million U.S. adults

SOURCE Hotwire.com