Industrial Analysis

An Analysis Of The Travel And Tourism Industry In The United States
Lillian Atkins
      Management for Organizations MGT 330
      JoDee Phillips
      August 25, 2008

    Travel and tourism is the nation’s largest services export industry, the third largest retail sales industry (following auto and food store sales), and one of the largest U.S. employers (http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/markets/Tourism/tourism.htm).   According to the Travel Industry Association of America, travel and tourism is a $703 billion industry in the United States that has generated more than 7.5 million jobs (http://www.tia.org).   It ranks as the first-, second-, or third largest retail-sales industry in 29 states (http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/markets/Tourism/tourism.htm).   Travel and tourism generates $104.9 billion in tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments, with the restaurant industry accounting for the majority of this economic activity (http://www.tia.org).
    Recently, an important trend has shown up in recent tourism studies.   Because vacations are not cheap, and usually take longer than a weekend, the best customers are most likely households with discretionary income and free time.   The two population segments that best fit that description are those ages 55 to 64 and 65 to 74 (http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/TTAB/ITAB_Home.html).   These two groups are not large and have grown slowly over the past decade.   However, when it comes to spending on travel-related goods and services, these two age segments will be far more important to the leisure travel industry than their numbers would suggest.   During the next 5 to 10 years, a prime target market for any leisure-oriented travel agency should be households ages 55 to 64.   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 2000 Consumer Expenditure Survey, households in that age cohort now spend about $17 billion a year on travel-related goods and services (http://www.bls.gov).   About half of that pays for transportation...