Industry NewsArizona Office of Tourism Debuts New Travel Advertising Campaign Arizona Office of Tourism – October Beginning this week, the Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT) debuts a new travel and tourism advertising campaign promoting the Grand Canyon State as a world-class, leisure destination.
Phoenix looks to open Mexico City trade, tourism office Phoenix Business Journal – October The city of Phoenix is looking at opening a new trade and tourism office in Mexico City.
Placer Valley Tourism makes play for sports complex Sacramento Business Journal – October Placer Valley Tourism wants to land a dedicated regional sports park in Roseville.
DATE ANNOUNCED FOR SUPER BOWL XLIX The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee announced that Super Bowl XLIX will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium on Feb. 1, 2015. HOTELS FACE NEW CHALLENGES AS AVERAGE AGE OF GUEST DROPS The average age of hotel guests has dropped, new research has found. The white paper, “Who’s Sleeping with You: A Detailed Look at the U.S. Online Hotel Guest” was produced in partnership with Hudson Crossing, and took a three-month sample of the billion monthly travel transactions processed each month from Adara. The key finding is surprising: four out of 10 hotel guests are between the ages of 18 and 36. This provides a solid counterpoint to the prevailing trend of targeting hotels towards Baby Boomers. The rise of boutique hotels and larger design-focused properties is most certainly at play here, as the younger generation of Millennials both begin to travel more for business and seek exceptionally unique experiences as they travel. The simultaneous focus on socializing the hotel experience likely plays a factor in this demographic shift, as trendy hotels like Ace create lobby scenes that create an atmosphere appealing to the more social Millennial demographic. Click here to see additional findings. (Tnooz.com, Nov. 19) WOMEN ARE GROWING SEGMENT IN AFFLUENT TRAVEL The number of affluent travelers has risen in the last few years, and more of those travelers are women, according to a report by MMGY Global and the Harrison Group. And nine in 10 use the Internet to find travel suppliers and information. Affluent travelers, defined as those with an annual household income of $250,000 or more, make up 6 percent of the leisure travel market, the 2013 Portrait of American Travelers report says. Women now make up the majority of those travelers at 54 percent, up from 42 percent in 2010. On average, these upscale travelers took five vacations during the last 12 months and spent $9,765 on travel during that time period. The group also expects to spend more than $10,000 on vacations in the coming year. Affluent travelers tend to be married, are older and use social media. And they're keeping up with technology. "Significantly more affluent travelers have downloaded travel apps to their smartphones now (49 percent) than in 2010 (27 percent)," a statement about the study says. Airline websites, Expedia and TripAdvisor were the most popular travel websites used by this group of travelers. Click here to read more. (LATimes.com, Nov. 19) MAJORITY OF AMERICAN TRAVELERS USE SMARTPHONE ON VACATION Eighty-five percent of American travelers use a smartphone on vacation, according to a new survey conducted by TripAdvisor. But the high percentage is more indicative of how we travel today than a symptom of overworking. The majority, or 61 percent, of American travelers are using their mobile devices to access and share social media. What’s driving the social media obsession? It’s a fear of missing out on what’s going on at home and the opportunity to make others jealous of vacation time. Of those travelers who reported using social media on vacation, 46 percent said it was a fear of missing out on friends’ personal news and 19 percent said it was “because it wouldn’t be a holiday if their friends didn’t know they were on it.” However, connected travelers also are using the devices to help them plan activities and look up information on the go. Thirty-six percent use their devices to find restaurants, 27 percent look for things to do, and 22 percent look for hotels. (Skift.com, Nov. 18) HOTEL INVESTMENT TRANSACTION VOLUME IS AT HIGHEST AMOUNT SINCE 2007 Knocked around during the global downturn, the luxury/resort hotel sector is beginning to get back on its feet. Year-to-date through August, the resort sector accounted for 18.4 percent of total investment transaction volume in the hotel sector, according to data compiled by Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hotels & Hospitality Group. The approximately $2.5 billion of transaction volume in the sector represents the highest amount since 2007 and is triple the prior-year period. Optimism over the prospects for the global resort/luxury sector is one factor driving the renewed interest, sources said. Through mid-October in the United States, a total of 31 luxury hotels representing $3.6 billion in deal volume closed, according to STR Analytics. During full-year 2012, there were 30 luxury deals, representing deal volume of $3.4 billion. (HotelNewsNow.com, Nov. 14) |
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