La Cumbre Presentation -- 1998 Previous    Back to Index Page   Next

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The impact of the devaluation of the peso on the air travel market has already been noted. Associated with that was a significant belt-tightening. Average spending per air visitor per day dropped from $124 in 1994 to $94 in 1995, a 24% decline.

What's remarkable is the phenomenal increase in spending in 1996.

It is clearly the leisure traveler who contributed to the 120% increase with a spending frenzy! In 1996 he spent nearly 3.5 times more than he did in 1994 or 1995.

I mentioned this last year and attributed this increase to three things: 1) pent up demand; 2) shorter trip duration with equal total spending so that the traveler is spending more per day; and third) Spending on gifts and souvenirs by leisure travelers which skyrocketed in 1996, so that this traveler was averaging almost $1000 on gifts and souvenirs.

As anticipated, that phenomena appears to be a flash-in-the-pan as indicated by the overall drop in spending in 1997, especially with holiday travelers. Those numbers are more in line with the natural growth of spending. The business traveler took up the challenge and spent 132% more on food and beverage, 120% more on entertainment, 84% more on lodging but did not do much shopping, only 28% increase from 1996.

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