Of the 38 percent who haven�t started planning their trips yet, most (68%) responded that they had not decided when to go or that they had not chosen their destination (39%). One-third (34%) were unsure of how much they would be able to spend on their vacation. Fourteen percent said they were waiting to see if travel prices would go down.

Economic concerns (34%) and lack of time (30%) continue to be the primary reasons given by those not intending to travel on leisure this summer. Anxiety about travel safety, terrorism and SARS were rarely mentioned as reasons not to travel.

The recently lifted Code Orange Alert, while causing only very few Americans to cancel or postpone summer leisure trips, did apparently influence some to change their travel plans. Eleven percent (11%) of those planning to take leisure trips this summer said they would travel closer to home, while 9 percent said they would avoid flying. Only 2 percent, however, indicated that they would change their destination.

�It�s apparent that Americans won�t be easily deterred from traveling,� remarked Dr. Suzanne Cook, senior vice president of research and technology for the Travel Industry Association of America. �The weak economy, terror alerts, SARS�none of these things stops most people from traveling. As evidence of how resilient Americans are, we simply modify how we travel instead of not traveling at all.�

The last wave of TIA�s War Impact Survey, as well as its recent Summer Travel Forecast, continues to confirm recent leisure travel trends, with Americans reporting high interest in travel by auto, RV or motorcoach, staying within the U.S., visiting small towns or rural areas and taking short getaways (less than 3 nights). Consumer interest in types of travel such as cruising, visiting casinos, longer trips of 7 nights or more, large city and major tourist attraction destinations, and travel by air is stronger than recorded during TIA�s first survey in March.

The exception continues to be Americans� interest in traveling outside the U.S. Although negative perceptions about traveling internationally have softened somewhat since the first survey, the negative continues to very much outweigh the positive. The reasons for these negative perceptions are multi-faceted, including concerns about SARS, especially regarding travel to and from Asia, the weak dollar in Europe and the soft U.S. economy.

The fourth and final wave of TIA�s War Impact Survey was conducted May 22 � 28, 2003 using web-based surveys among 1,200 online Americans. It was conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America and a consortium of TIA member organizations, including NYC & Company, Kissimmee-St. Cloud Convention & Visitors Bureau, Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Visit Florida, Choice Hotels International, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority and the Canadian Tourism Commission.