Carlson Wagonlit Travel's 2007 Travel Trends Survey: Las Vegas and Caribbean Cruising Top Destinations for 4th Year in a Row

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates unveiled the 2007 results of their authoritative annual Travel Trends Survey in which Las Vegas and Caribbean cruising continue to dominate the top spots for domestic and international travel, respectively. But Florida boasts having five cities listed among the top 15 domestic destinations and Rome makes history again -- this time landing in the top five international destinations for the first time in this survey. Conducted November 28-December 15, 2006, the 2007 Travel Trends Survey includes responses from a record 507 Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associate owners, managers and frontline agents throughout the United States -- roughly equivalent to 83% of all Carlson Wagonlit Travel locations.

"With the incredible response we received from our Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates this year, we are able to paint the best picture yet of what the traveling public is booking for this upcoming year," stated Roger E. Block, CTC, executive vice president of the Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associate Division. "Domestically, Florida has bounced back quite well after a quiet season weather-wise. Internationally, the big story is Italy, which apparently has yet to reach its peak in popularity."

"In fact, Rome's fourth place finish and Italy's overall increased strength dovetails nicely with last year's Carlson Wagonlit Travel International Summit in Rome where our largest group of Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates ever participated in the confab," Block noted. "The greater awareness our agents gain from such an exclusive, educational event is immeasurable to their customers and their business. In 2007 our International Summit will convene in the burgeoning, captivating destination of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates."

Block continued, "It is important to note that our top two trends are 'clients are feeling more confident about traveling farther from home' and 'clients are spending more per vacation' which means our job as travel experts becomes even more important," added Block. "With nearly 82% of our travel agents saying their bookings are equal to or above the same time period last year means consumers are looking to us for our expertise so that they get the vacation experience and value they've been saving for."

Top Vacation Destinations: U.S. and International

When asked to forecast the most popular U.S. destinations for 2007 based on their actual bookings to date, nearly 78% of the respondents named Las Vegas, securing the city's number-one ranking in the survey and edging out Orlando for the fifth year in a row. The sun, sand and convenience of seeing multiple islands and beaches via cruise ships has kept Caribbean cruising atop the list of most popular international "destinations" beating out second place Cancun, Mexico once again, according to the 507 Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associate experts who completed this year's survey.

  Also noteworthy:

  -- Roman Renaissance: Rome has steadily climbed up the international list
     over the last four years, finally earning a place in the top five.  The
     progression can be traced from 11th in 2004 to 9th in 2005 to 6th last
     year and now placing 4th in 2007.  Also riding on that wave is
     Mediterranean cruising, which just cracked the top 10 international
     "destinations."  In the past four years it has climbed from 15th in
     2004 to 10th place in 2007. Also, Florence/Tuscany moved up one spot to
     15 and Venice jumped three spots to 23.
  -- The Ups and Downs: Miami/Miami Beach has jumped six spots from 13 to 7.
     Also on the rise, Los Angeles is up four positions to number 16 and
     Ft. Lauderdale is up three spots to number 11.  Because of the
     relatively quiet 2006 hurricane season, Florida is rebounding nicely
     translating into five Florida cities in the top 15.  Headed in the
     opposite direction are Kauai, which dropped out of the top 10 to number
     14, and Anaheim/Orange County which slipped six spots to number 18.
  -- Trend to watch: China, and in a larger sense Asia, is quietly gaining
     in popularity.  Beijing moved up to 23rd -- tied with Venice -- via a
     jump of six spots on the international list; Hong Kong rose from 36th
     to 27th between 2006 and 2007; and Shanghai saw a modest bump from 36th
     to 34th.  As far as "emerging" leisure destinations, Carlson Wagonlit
     Travel experts aggregated points within Asia for a cumulative ranking
     as third overall.

The following lists display the top ten domestic and international destinations for 2007, along with results from the 2006 survey conducted one year ago.*

  Top 10 Domestic Destinations: 2007  Top 10 Domestic Destinations: 2006
  1 - Las Vegas, NV            77.9%  1 - Las Vegas, NV                79.6%
  2 - Orlando, FL              75.5%  2 - Orlando, FL                  71.3%
  3 - Honolulu, HI             55.6%  3 - Maui, HI                     58.1%
  4 - Kahului (Maui), HI       44.2%  4 - Honolulu, HI                 57.9%
  5 - New York City, NY        38.3%  5 - New York City, NY            40.8%
  6 - Anchorage, AK            20.7%  6 (tie) - Anchorage, AK          19.0%
  7 - Miami/Miami Beach, FL    14.8%  6 (tie) - Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ 19.0%
  8 - Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ   14.6%  8 - Kauai, HI                    16.3%
  9 - Fort Myers, FL           13.8%  9 - Fort Myers, FL               16.0%
  10 - San Francisco, CA       12.8%  10 - San Francisco, CA           12.7%



     Top 10 International                   Top 10 International
      Destinations: 2007                     Destinations: 2006
  1 - Caribbean Cruising         70.8%   1 - Caribbean Cruising        76.3%
  2 - Cancun, Mexico             68.6%   2 - Riviera Maya, Mexico      51.2%
  3 - Riviera Maya, Mexico       35.3%   3 - Cancun, Mexico            49.3%
  4 - Rome, Italy                30.4%   4 - Jamaica                   34.7%
  5 - Montego Bay, Jamaica       24.1%   5 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico   30.6%
  6 - Punta Cana, D. Republic    21.9%   6 - Rome, Italy               25.6%
  7 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico    21.7%   7 - London, United Kingdom    23.4%
  8 - Cabo San Lucas/            20.3%   8 - Punta Cana, D. Republic   22.6%
       Los Cabos, Mexico                 9 - Cruising Mexico           19.0%
  9 - London, United Kingdom     19.9%   10 - Cabo San Lucas/          16.5%
  10 - Mediterranean Cruising    19.5%         Los Cabos, Mexico



  Top 5 Cruise Destinations: 2007    Top 5 Cruise Destinations: 2006
  1. Caribbean (Western)    30.0%    1. Caribbean (Western)     30.6%
  2. Alaska                 21.9%    2. Alaska                  24.8%
  3. Caribbean (Eastern)    16.0%    3. Caribbean (Eastern)     20.1%
  4. Europe Mediterranean    8.1%    4. Caribbean (Southern)     8.8%
  5. Caribbean (Southern)    7.3%    5. Mexican Riviera          5.8%


  Business Outlook and Travel Trends

Carlson Wagonlit Travel's 2007 Travel Trends Survey asked respondents to identify key 2007 travel trends. Some of the top trends include:

  -- Optimism among Travel Agents: Nearly 82% responded that their bookings
     are equal to or above the same time period last year.  In addition,
     over 81% are either fairly or very optimistic about the year ahead.
  -- Trip Length: Nearly 90% of respondents said the average length of their
     clients' trips were six days or longer -- up from 85.9% last year.  For
     vacation 6-7 days long the percentage was 75.5%, followed by trips from
     8-10 days at 11.2%.  Vacations over 10 days accounted for 3% of
     responses.
  -- Passports: Now 44% of respondents say "a majority of their customers
     have a valid passport," which is up from 32% just last August.  "That
     increase is a testament to our travel agents and the work they do on
     behalf of their customers to make sure every detail is taken care of.
     This also helps illustrate how consumers are again going back to a
     valuable resource, their travel agent," added Block.
  -- Emerging Destinations:  The top five "up and coming" or "emerging"
     destinations for leisure travel in 2007 are (in order): Costa Rica,
     Belize, Asia (including China and Thailand), Australia/New Zealand, and
     the Dominican Republic.  These five destinations show that the mass
     travel audience continues to grow in sophistication and confidence by
     gravitating to what once were seen as more "adventurous" locations.


  Regarding 2007 bookings to date, what trends have you noticed?
                                                    2007 Survey  2006 Survey
  1. Clients are feeling more confident about       64.5%        48.5%
      traveling farther from home
  2. Clients are spending more per vacation         53.4%        47.1%
  3. Booking window is lengthening                  48.7%        52.3%
  4. Cruising is becoming more popular              47.1%        53.7%
  5. Europe bookings are up over last year          35.3%        31.4%

What types of vacations seem to be especially popular for your clients in 2007?

  1. All-inclusive resorts                      89.3%
  2. Cruises                                    78.9%
  3. Vacations to sunny/warm destinations       59.8%
  4. Family trips                               48.7%
  5. Couples trips                              38.3%
  6. Tours                                      31.2%
  7. (tie) FITs (Fully Independent Travel)      18.5%
  7. (tie) Multi-generational trips             18.5%
  9. Sightseeing, not necessarily sun-seeking   15.8%
  10. Business trips                            15.4%

With Carlson Wagonlit Travel, your vacation experience begins with ours. To find the Carlson Wagonlit Travel location nearest you call 1-800-CARLSON or visit http://www.carlsontravel.com/ .

*Survey of 363 Carlson Wagonlit Travel agents taken Nov. 28-Dec. 16, 2005.

Carlson Travel Group, Inc. is a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Carlson. Brands include: Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Cruise Holidays, Results Travel, SeaMaster Cruises, Carlson Leisure Travel Services and Carlson Destination Marketing Services. In 2007, for the eleventh consecutive year, a Carlson Travel Franchise Group brand was named the top travel business franchise by Entrepreneur's Franchise 500(R); Franchise Times ranked the Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associate Program as the 3rd top franchise overall in 2006 for the sixth year in a row.