TripAdvisor announces results of US travel survey

TripAdvisor, the online travel community, has recently released the results of its annual U.S. travel trends survey, with responses from over 3,000 travelers.

The most significant trend identified is that most respondents to survey are planning on environmentally-conscious trips in 2009, in hiking, participating in adventure activities, and visiting national parks.

A majority of American travelers participating in the survey noted that their decisions for travel in 2009 were based on environmental considerations and many indicated that they planned to visit more eco-friendly hotels and resorts.

TripAdvisor also released its list of emerging hotspots for the 2009 travel season, called ‘TravelCast.’  At the top of the list is the Italian seaside resort, Budoni, in Sardinia. In the U.S. the top emerging hotspot is St. George, in Utah.

For 2009, 73 percent of the U.S. travelers responding to the survey said they were planning to visit a national park, which was up from 62 percent last year. Hiking was the choice of 53 percent, which was up from last year’s 50 percent.

Adventure activities were the choice of 47 percent of the respondents, which was an increase over last year’s 40 percent. Cycling was the choice of 33 percent of the travelers responding to the survey, and 11 percent said they would likely choose an extreme sport – compared to just eight percent last year.

www.tripadvisor.com