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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPoll: Americans plan fewer trips
The number of vacationing Americans will be down this summer, according to a AP-Gfk Poll, and a third of Americans surveyed said they already have canceled at least one trip this year because of financial concerns.
Overall, the April survey found only 42 percent of Americans plan a leisure trip this summer, down from the 49 percent who said they planned to take a summer trip in an AP-Ipsos poll conducted in May 2005.
Not surprisingly, the less money you make, the less likely you are to take a vacation. More than two-thirds of those in the $100,000-plus bracket will take some type of leisure trip this summer, compared to 48 percent of those earning $50,000-$100,000 and just one-third of those with family incomes under $50,000.
Arch Woodside, a professor of marketing at Boston College who specializes in tourism, described the overall decrease in summer travel as “a substantial drop” that will have a significant impact on the industry, especially in places like Florida and New York City where tourism is big business.
Woodside said travel could shrink even more next year as new economic realities sink in.
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