With the summer travel season officially under way, a new poll from travel expert Travelocity.com
, the most popular travel site on the Web, reveals that 90 percent of those surveyed plan to take an out-of-town summer vacation this year, a 9 percent increase from 2001.
Of those traveling, more than eight out of 10 said they will spend as much or more money for their summer excursions.

The poll, based on a survey of 6,000 Travelocity.com members that was conducted in May, also discovered that nearly 40 percent of those surveyed will generally take a combination of both short and long trips during the summer vacation season. In addition to the details included below, complete survey results can be found at www.travelocity.com/summerpoll.

“This past year, visiting friends and family has become a top priority in the lives of so many individuals,” said Sam Gilliland
, president and chief executive officer of Travelocity.com. “This survey reflects the value people have placed on taking the time to get out and enjoy themselves this summer, despite the ongoing uncertainties around the world.”

Survey findings also include:

Most Travelers Plan to Increase or Maintain Spending

Eight out of 10 surveyed said they will spend as much or more for their summer excursions this year when compared to last
47 percent indicated that they will spend the same—36 percent said they will spend more—16 percent said they would be spending less

In addition to the member poll on summer travel, Travelocity.com further analyzed how consumers traveled in the 2001 summer season and how they plan to travel in the summer of 2002 by looking at its 34-million member database.

Travelocity.com distributed surveys via e-mail to members between May 9 - 16, 2002. Seven million Travelocity.com members were solicited via its Real Deals newsletter e-mail of which 6,013 surveys were completed and used for analysis. To ensure data quality, duplicated responses were omitted from final findings. Findings are significant at a 95 percent confidence level with +/- 1.3 percent margin of error.

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