Upscale travelers not deterred by higher costs

Higher gas prices are keeping some families from heading to the shore or the mountains this summer, but don’t seem to be having much of an impact on wealthier Americans who are planning their upscale and pricey vacations.

The value of their stock portfolios may be declining, but well-to-do Americans are less likely to feel the impact of the economic slowdown, and the rising costs of fuel and food. Rather, they seem to be going ahead with their vacation plans – even with consumer confidence at a 16-year low.

Since 2000, households that earn $100,000 or more have responsible for an increasing share of hotel room sales, and currently account for approximately one-third of all hotel stays, according to data released by D.K. Shifflet & Associates, of McLean, Virginia.

“If you think about the high-income folks in the US, the CEOs and others who make a lot of money and have been doing well over the last eight years, they can afford to do that. And they’re doing it while they can,” commented Doug Shifflet, the chairman and CEO of the travel research company.

TCS Expeditions, an upscale travel operator, offering tours by private jet, reports that it has sold out for 2008 and much of 2009, although pricing for their trips noted their vice president of sales in Seattle, Melanie Cole.

Thank you to www.boston.com for the quote above, for more information please visit their website.

www.dksa.com