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Minority Travel on the Upswing, Study Finds

By Dale K. Dupont, The Miami Herald
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 14--The number of minority travelers increased at a faster rate than overall U.S. travel in recent years, a study by the Travel Industry Association of America found.

Hispanic travel volume rose 20 percent from 2000 to 2002, Asian-American volume was up 10 percent, and African-American numbers were up 4 percent, according to The Minority Traveler report released Tuesday. U.S. travel in general grew 2 percent over the same period.

"This is one of the big, emerging markets in the travel and tourism industry," said TIA spokeswoman Cathy Keefe. The report -- TIA's third on the minority market -- is designed to show where opportunities for growth are, she said.

Minority travelers in 2002 accounted for $90 billion of the total $462 billion in total domestic spending on travel.

The growth in many ways tracks U.S. population changes, TIA noted. And many travel patterns are the same. But TIA found that minority travelers are more likely than the average traveler to rent a car, attend cultural events or festivals, participate in nightlife activities and gamble as a form of recreation.

Keefe said car rental rates may be higher because many of the travelers live in cities where they don't need a car.

Among the findings:

--The primary theme for Hispanics is family, so Hispanics are more likely than average to include theme parks on their vacation.

--Hispanics travelers tend to be between 18 and 44, while the average age for travelers overall is 47.

--The top three cities for Hispanic travelers are Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Antonio.

--African Americans are more likely than the average to travel to destinations in the South.

--The three favorite cities for African Americans are Atlanta, Orlando and Washington.

--The most popular cities for Asian Americans are Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

ON THE WEB: More information on the study, which was based on a survey of 300,000 households, is available at www.tia.org.

-----To see more of The Miami Herald -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald.com.

(c) 2004, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

 
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