�Despite the decline in travel this spring, the numbers aren�t as bad as we had feared,� remarked William S. Norman, president and CEO of the Travel Industry Association of America.  �The good news is that the spring travel forecast is on par with the number of pleasure trips taken in spring 2000, which was a strong season for the travel industry.�

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Among past-year travelers, 15 percent plan to travel more this spring compared to last spring, down from 20 percent last spring.  Fifty-one percent plan to travel the same amount this spring and 11 percent plan to travel less this spring.  Nineteen percent do not plan to travel at all, up from 14 percent in spring 2001.

Family travel continues to be popular this spring.  Spouses (48%) and children/grandchildren (26%) remain the most popular traveling companions for pleasure trips.  Fourteen percent expect to travel with friends and 14 percent will travel with other family members.  Thirteen percent of spring travelers plan to travel solo.  Only two percent say they will travel with their parents and only four percent intend to travel as part of a group.

NOTE: The results of TIA�s Spring 2002 Travelometer are based on a representative sample survey of 1,000 travelers conducted in January 2002, and on TIA�s seasonal travel forecasting model developed in partnership with DRI/McGraw-Hill.

TIA is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $584 billion travel industry.  TIA�s mission is to represent the whole of the U.S. travel industry to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States.