A Strong Economy Gets Americans Going; Feeling Wealthier This Summer, People Are Traveling More and Spending More for Vacations
Families are flocking to Orlando to celebrate Disney World's 25th anniversary. Others are packing planes to Italy and France. And so many tourists are heading to New York City that it's no easy task to find a hotel room there.</br></br>Even compared with last summer's extremely busy travel season, early signs this summer show consumers are hitting the road in larger numbers and paying higher prices, travel agents and other industry experts say. The strong U.S. economy is fueling the travel boom: With low inflation and solid economic growth, consumers feel like they've got money to spend.</br></br>"You've really got a favorable set of circumstances for consumer spending generally," said Joel Prakken, an economist and chairman of Macroeconomics Advisers in St. Louis. "You've got strong gains in employment and people have jobs that haven't had them for a while or at all. The first thing they have to do is feed, house and clothe themselves. Eventually, when those needs are met, they can think about things like travel."</br></br>Today's travelers are often people like Marty and John McGran of McLean, who recently returned with their three children from a 14-day tour of Italy. The McGrans, who usually vacation at the beach, decided to take the trip so that the kids could see the country in which their mother studied as an exchange student 25 years ago. Last year, the family took a trip to London, but paid for it mostly by using frequent-flier miles. This year, the couple paid the entire bill.</br></br>For the McGrans, the experience was well worth the price. "It just seemed like a good time to do it," said Marty McGran. "We decided last year that the window of oppportunity to travel as an entire family -- especially where the oldest would want to go -- was fairly small. It was something that we really wanted to do."