Four in Ten (40%) Americans Confident They'll Take a Summer Vacation This Year

New York, NY - Four in ten Americans are confident (29% very/11% somewhat) that they'll take a vacation this year, an increase of 5 points over the proportion of Americans who reportedly took a vacation last year, according to a new Ipsos Public Affairs poll conducted on behalf of Mondial. Interestingly, the poll found that men (46%) are more likely than women (34%) to be confident that they'll take a summer vacation this year, as are those whose family earns more than $75K a year (52%) when compared with those who earn between $25K and $75K (38%) or less than $25K a year (27%)

Moreover, those who place a great deal of importance on vacationing are doing what they can to make it happen, as a majority (52%) of those who say taking an annual vacation is important to them are confident that they will be able to take a vacation this summer. All in all, one half (49%) of Americans say they typically take an annual summer vacation of some kind, although higher income earners (59%) are more likely than those with moderate (47%) or lower incomes (33%) to say they typically vacation in the summer.

Those who are confident that they'll vacation plan on spending an average of $1,653 per household. This equates to a staggering $75.9 projected to be spent on summer vacations this summer, an increase of 9% over the $69.5 billion vacationers reportedly spent last year.

Among those who are confident they'll take a vacation this year, four in ten (42%) say that the need to get away or having too much stress is what led to their decision to plan a vacation. One quarter (26%) say a special occasion such as a honeymoon or an anniversary was the impetus, although this increases to 40% among those aged 18 to 34. Others cite having more time to vacation (13%), finding a great deal (5%), or an improved economic and financial outlook (4%) as the reason they're planning to take a vacation. One in ten (9%) are unsure of the primary factor motivating their decision

Among a list of potential vacation plans, four in ten (43%) say their plans include going to the ocean or beach, while an equal proportion indicates that they'll go on a road trip (43%). Two in ten (20%) will be drawn to the mountains, while 15% will head to an international location. One in ten (11%) will head out on the waters on a cruise, while similar proportions will cruise the country in an RV (9%) or head to Disneyland/ Disneyworld (7%). Others (14%) will use their time off to enjoy a relaxing staycation, while 6% don't yet know what they'll do with their time off.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted June 3-7, 2010. For the survey, a nationally representative sample of 1,000 randomly-selected adults residing in the U.S. interviewed by telephone via Ipsos' U.S. Telephone Express omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

For more information on this press release, please contact: Aaron Amic Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs 612.205.4733 [email protected]

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