The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) at the US Dept. of Labor has compiled a report that shows how much travelers spend on vacation and leisure, what they spend it on, and what factors impact their decision-making process. The report also includes data about travel industry employment and future projections.

Travel Expenditure chart

Highlights from the BLS report:-

- US households spent $1,415 (3% of household expenditure) on vacation and leisure trips.
- Lodging & meals each account for 23% of vacation spending, transportation is 44% and entertainment 10%.
- Travel spending increases along with the age of the household head.
- Travel industry employees typically earn less than national average ($43,460).
- Employment of travel agents is expected to decline 1.1% in the 10 yr period from 2008-2018.

Households where the head of the household is in the 55 to 64 age bracket spend more ($1, 857) on average than other age groups. The older the age of the household, the more the family spends on travel, until the age of 64. Travel spending starts falling again from age 65 onwards.

As a function of income, the travel expenditure shows a predictable curve, with the top 20% of households that earn a pretax income greater than or equal to $93,358 spending $3,718 on travel, as compared to the bottom 20% of households who spent just $415 on travel.

The BLS report also shows that two of the most important factors – airline fares and lodging rates – on which travelers base their decisions have fluctuated heavily in the last three years from April 2007 to April 2010.

Airline & Lodging comparison rate chart

Airline rates jumped over 20% from April 07 to Oct 08, and then tanked nearly 40% by July ’09 and have since climbed back up by over 30%.

As far as industry employment is concened, the travel sector offers lower wages than the national average ($43,460). Out of the 224,360 hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks employed in 2009 at a mean annual wage of $21,130, one in four still works part time. The 95,810 flight attendants earn a mean annual wage of $43,350, and the 76,990 travel agents get $32,450. 

Travel Industry Employment Chart

The number of hotel clerks is expected to go up by 31,500 in the 10 year period from  2008-2018, and the number of flight attendants will rise by 8,000. The only sub-sector which is expected to lose jobs are travel agents, where the number falls by 1,200.

BLS Spotlight on Travel: www.bls.gov/spotlight/2010/travel/home.htm