International visitors continue to spend more in U.S.

A bright spot in the nation's rebounding economy continues to shine.

International tourists are spending record amounts in the U.S., surpassing the pre-recession totals of  2008, according to the latest data from the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.

In October, international visitors spent $13.1 billion on travel to the U.S. and for tourism-related activities while they were there, a 13% increase over October 2010, the agency said.

Travel and tourism-related spending has increased, on average, more than $1.5 billion a month in 2011 and is on pace to break the record previously set in 2008 before the global economic slowdown.

The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries expects industry-related exports to surpass $152 billion for 2011.

Four countries are expected to account for two-thirds of the projected growth in international visitation to the U.S. over the next five years. About 31% of the growth will come from Canada, 13% from Mexico, 10% from China and 7% from Brazil, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the total spent by Americans traveling abroad reached $91.9 billion in the first 10 months of 2011, an 8% increase over the same period in 2010, the agency reported.

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Chart: Spending by international visitors in the U.S., monthly data. Credit: U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries

 

Airlines expected to increase onboard offerings

Besides charging passengers to check luggage, the nation’s airlines have collected billions of dollars in extra revenue by turning their cabins into flying department stores.

And experts foresee big growth in such sales in the coming years.

The nation’s top airlines take in an average of nearly 12% of their revenue from onboard sales of food, drinks, online entertainment and blankets, among other items and services, according to industry studies.

In the future, airlines are likely to expand such offerings to include “destination-based attractions,” such as car rentals and hotel reservations and more entertainment options, according to a study released last week by Toronto-based GuestLogix, a provider of onboard sales technology to the world’s airlines.

The report predicts that most of the sales will be made from the entertainment system installed in the seat backs instead of from the carts that flight attendants roll down the cabin aisle.

“I think airlines are thinking about the passenger and trying to get them what they want,” said Chris Gardner, a managing director at GuestLogix.

GuestLogix found that revenue from so-called “comfort items” such as headphones, blankets, pillows and in-flight entertainment jumped 70% in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009.

Prepared meals and other fresh food generated nearly three times as much as revenue as pre-packaged snacks in the first six months of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009.

Finally, the report confirmed what many in the airline industry had long assumed: The longer the flight, the more the airline sells in on-board products and services, particularly alcoholic drinks.

On flights under 500 miles, the average sale of alcoholic drinks was about $22, compared with $71 on flights over 1,500 miles, the report found.

“The longer the flight, passengers are less likely to wait until they are on the ground to buy food or have a drink,” the report said.

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Photo: A chef and sommelier serves passengers on Delta Air Lines. Credit: Delta Air Lines

Carry-on bag fee at Spirit Airlines a success, analyst says

Florida-based Spirit Airlines took a heap of criticism last summer when it announced that it was going to be the first — and so far only — airline to charge passengers up to $45 in extra fees to pack carry-on luggage in its planes’ overhead compartments.

Two federal lawmakers even threatened to impose a tax on all airline revenue generated by such fees, a penalty that has yet to be adopted.

But an industry consultant on airline revenue ideas has declared Spirit’s carry-on baggage fee a major success.

In the 12-month period after Spirit launched the fee in August 2010, the airline flew 24.5% more passengers compared with the same period in 2009, according to a study by Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorks, a Wisconsin airline consultant.

Meanwhile, the airline reported a 10% to 12% profit margin in the nine months after the fee was added, a much higher margin than most of its larger competitors, according to the report.

“More than a year later, passenger traffic and revenue results have proven the skeptics wrong,” Sorensen said of the carry-on fee. A spokeswoman for Spirit declined to comment about the report.

Even more important than higher revenues, Sorensen said the carry-on fee has created a cost incentive for passengers to carry fewer bags into the cabin, thus speeding up the boarding process.

"Flight attendants report passenger boarding and unloading occurs far more quickly,” he said in the report. “This preserves Spirit’s desire to keep ground time at a minimum.”

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Photo: Jim Rader rolls his luggage away from the Spirit Airlines ticket counter after checking in for a flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York in February 2010. Credit: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg News

'Healthy' menus up 86%, including at airport restaurants

Diners these days are finding more options that are better for them at eateries, even the ones at the nation’s busiest airports.

Restaurants using the word “healthy” in menu descriptions is up 86% over the last year, according to research group Technomic.

Instances of “low fat” on menus are up 33%, while “fat free” and “non-fat” are appearing 12% more often than they were last year. Meals claiming to be “no sugar” are now 51% more popular on menus.

And although “low-calorie” shows up less often than the other descriptors, its presence on menus jumped 154% year over year.

Chains including Starbucks, Jack in the Box, McDonald’s are all trying to appeal to the health-minded set as regulators crack down on calorie counts and fatty children’s menus.

Even airports, not normally known as bastions of good-for-you cooking, are offering a wider range of healthful alternatives to greasy burgers.

At the nation’s busiest 15 airports, 83% of restaurants offer at least one low-fat, cholesterol-free meal, according to a recent report from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. In 2001, just 57% of airport eateries could say the same.

Detroit’s Metropolitan Wayne County Airport was ranked the healthiest travel thoroughfare, with all of its 59 restaurants offering wholesome meals. Just 33% of those establishments made the list in 2001.

San Francisco International Airport was second-best, with healthful fare at 96% of its 68 eateries, followed by good eats at 92% of 38 dining spots at Washington's Dulles International Airport.

Los Angeles International Airport was third to last on the list, with 76% of its 55 restaurants featuring low-fat, cholesterol-free food.

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Photo: Travelers dine at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Consumer Confidential: Holiday shopping, fewer fliers, gas pains

Here's your last-train-to-Clarksville Tuesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--We're still shopping, right down to the wire. Sales at stores opened at least a year rose 3.4% for the week ended Saturday compared with the previous week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. That follows two consecutive weekly declines as shoppers took a break after a discount-fueled spending spree over the Thanksgiving weekend. Compared with a year ago, sales for the week rose 4.6%. And there's still more shopping to do. According to a poll of 1,000 shoppers conducted by ICSC and Goldman Sachs, shoppers on average completed 70% of their holiday buying as of Sunday. Moreover, 9% of shoppers polled hadn't even started their holiday buying. Man, talk about procrastinators. (Associated Press)

--And we're still traveling, but not quite as much. The estimate for the upcoming winter holiday travel period predicts there will be fewer fliers than a year ago. A projected 43.3 million air travelers will fly on U.S. carriers for both domestic and international routes during a 21-day period, according to Airlines for America, the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines. That's a 1% drop from the same period last year, which translates to about 20,000 fewer passengers on average per day. However, travelers will not find that translates into more leg room once they board planes. On the busiest days, flights will be filled to at least 85% capacity, according to the forecast. (CNN)

--Feeling a bite out of your earnings? That's your gasoline bill talking. Despite the fact that gas prices have been falling in recent weeks, the fact is consumers have spent more money on gas this year than any other, according to the Oil Price Information Service. As of mid-December, gas prices have averaged $3.52 per gallon. Based on recent demand trends, the total consumers will have spent on gas this year should be about $481 billion. Last year, motorists spent a total of $389 billion on gas, according to OPIS. When all of this data is broken down, each American household will have spent an average of $4,155 on gasoline 2011, approximately 8.4% of an average family's income. Ouch. (ConsumerAffairs.com)

-- David Lazarus

Photo: Polls show Americans still have plenty of holiday shopping to do. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

 

California to draw more than $100 billion from tourists in 2011

Travel and tourism in California is expected to generate a total of $104.4 billion in direct spending in 2011, a 10% increase over last year.

The 2011 forecast included in a report by Tourism Economics, a Pennsylvania-based tourism consulting firm, also projects continued growth in travel spending in 2012.

California is expected to exceed the $100-billion mark for the first time ever in 2011 thanks to growth in domestic travel spending and a surge in international travel to the Golden State. Travelers to California spent $95.1 billion in 2010, according to the report.

Overall visitation numbers to California are expected to be up 4% in 2011, compared with last year. That increase includes a 6.9% growth in international visitors and a 9% increase in overseas visitors from such countries as China, France and Australia, according to the report.

Overseas visitors are most valued in the tourism industry because they typically stay longer and spend more money than domestic visitors.

Total travel-related employment in 2011 is expected to reach 890,000 jobs, or about 4% of the state's total employment, the report said.

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Photo: Brazilian tourists Masra Andrade, left, and Ticiana Santana have their picture taken with the Hollywood sign. Credit: Christina House / For The Times

Some flight attendants want '30 Rock' off American Airlines

Actor Alec Baldwin was thrown off an American Airlines flight this month after a fracas involving his cellphone. But now some flight attendants want his television show booted from the airline.

Baldwin was supposed to take a Dec. 6 flight from Los Angeles to New York but got kicked off the plane because he refused to stop playing a game on his cellphone as the flight was about the depart. He also slammed the door to the plane’s bathroom. In a statement, the airline said he violated Federal Aviation Administration rules and “was extremely rude to the crew.”

Baldwin, who stars in the NBC comedy “30 Rock,” later made fun of the controversy when he appeared on "Saturday Night Live" dressed as an American Airlines pilot. He also vowed not to fly on American again.

But the airline’s flight attendants are not laughing. Several members of the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants have asked American to stop showing episodes of “30 Rock” on the airline’s onboard entertainment systems until Baldwin apologizes.

For now, American says it will continue to show “30 Rock” on its flights.

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Photo: Alec Baldwin, left, and Seth Meyers on "Saturday Night Live." Credit: NBC

Business travelers hate Houston and the middle seat, survey says

Imagine a business trip that starts with a delayed flight to Houston. On the flight you must sit in the middle seat next to a sick passenger or perhaps a crying baby. When you check into your hotel, your bed is a mess of bedbugs and dirty linen.

These horrific business trip scenarios emerge from an online survey of 3,756 business travelers who were asked to choose their least favorite city to visit and cite the top reasons they hate to travel.

But the source of the survey data might be biased on the subject. ON24, a San Francisco provider of virtual meetings and webcasting technology, conducted the survey to promote online meetings over face-to-face business trips.

When it comes to picking least favorite cities to visit for a convention or trade show, Houston got the most votes, with 49% of the survey respondents, and Los Angeles came in second with nearly 42%.

Asked to list their top travel gripe, 53% chose sitting in an airplane middle seat, 51% said having their flight delayed and 43% chose getting stuck next to a sick passenger or a baby.

When it comes to lodging, nearly 53% said they were concerned about sleeping in a room with bedbugs and 45% worry about dirty linen.

When asked what they dislike about trade shows and conventions, more than 60% cited boring presentations. Nearly 20% said they disliked a common trade show sight — attractive women who staff show exhibits, often known as “booth babes.”

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Photo: Business-class passengers on a United flight to Hawaii. Credit: Richard Derk / For The Times

First 11 months of 2011 were safest for air travel since 1945

If you suffer from a fear of flying, here’s something that might calm your nerves: The first 11 months of 2011 have been the safest period for commercial air travel since 1945.

The global accident rate for January through November was 22% better than the same time last year and marked the safest period since a United Nations aviation agency began collecting data in 1945, according to the International Air Transport Assn., an airline trade group that issued a recent safety report based on the UN data.

Globally, there have been 486 passenger and crew fatalities in the first 11 months of the year, down from 784 fatalities in the same period last year, according to the trade group. In the first 11 months of 2011, the accident rate was 2.16 per million passenger takeoffs, down from 2.78 per million in the same period last year.

The most common accidents this year have been “runway excursions,” which occur when airplanes veer off or overrun the runway. Such incidents represented 23% of all accidents in that period, according to the report.

A spokesman for the trade group said he didn’t know why the first 11 months have been so safe but added that several changes over the years have improved overall aviation safety.

For example, IATA spokesman Perry Flint said manufacturers now build more reliable airplanes that include backup safety systems. He added that more countries are adopting international safety standards and annual safety audits.

“In general,” Flint said, “the safety trend line is moving in the right direction.”

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Photo: A plane takes off from Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles Times. 

Christmas and New Year's travel numbers expected to grow slightly

 

With gasoline prices dropping, the Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that the number of Southern Californians traveling for the Christmas and New Year's holidays will increase slightly over last year.

For the end-of-the-year holidays, the Auto Club says 7.13 million Southland residents will travel at least 50 miles, a 1.4% increase over last year.

Of those holiday travelers who will take trips between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, 90%, or 6.3 million, will travel by car. That’s a 2.5% increase over last year.

Gasoline prices have been dropping in recent weeks. But the price of a gallon of regular gas, ranging from about $3.50 to $3.65 a gallon in Southern California, is still 30 cents higher than at this time last year, according to the Auto Club.

Nationally, 91.9 million Americans are expected to take end-of-the-year getaways, also a 1.4% increase over last year.

“In a positive sign for the economy, the number of travelers for this holiday period is expected to increase despite higher costs for gas and airfares,” said Filomena Andre, the Auto Club’s vice president for travel products and services.

The most popular destinations for Southern Californians over the Christmas and New Year holidays, according to Auto Club travel agents, are:

1) Las Vegas

2) San Diego

3) San Francisco

4) Grand Canyon

5) Anaheim (Disneyland)

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Photo: Los Angeles highway traffic. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Consumer Confidential: Holiday travel, higher airfares, Acura redux

Here's your watching-the-detectives Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

— Downturn, shmownturn. Despite continued worries about the economy, more Americans are expected to hit the highway this holiday season. AAA says it expects 91.9 million Americans — about 30% of the population — to travel at least 50 miles from home during the 11-day, year-end holiday season. That's up 1.4% from a year ago, making it the second-highest travel volume in the past 10 years. The majority (about 91%) of travelers are expected to venture forth by automobile, a 2.1% increase from a year ago. That comes in the face of high prices at the pump, with gas prices 29 cents higher than a year ago. On the other hand, air travel is expected to decline slightly. (CNN Money)

— And there's a reason for that. If you thought it was more expensive to fly this year, you're right. Average domestic airfares rose to $370 in the second quarter of 2011,up 8.5% from the average fare of $341 in the second quarter of 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Second-quarter fares increased 3.9% from the first quarter, the second consecutive quarterly increase. And total prices may be even higher than government says. Fares in the study include only the price paid at the time of the ticket purchase and do not include other charges such as baggage fees, paid at the airport or on board the aircraft. (ConsumerAffairs.com)

— Honda's Acura brand isn't so ritzy after all. The carmaker had always hoped its Acura line could emulate Toyota and Nissan, which successfully propelled the Lexus and Infiniti brands, respectively, into the rarefied luxury-car tier alongside Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Cadillac. It never quite happened, and Honda now says it will try to reposition Acura as a mid-range, fuel-efficient brand. Over the next few years, Acura will introduce a new compact sedan, the ILX, built on Honda's global Civic platform, replacing the TSX. A redesigned RL flagship is expected by next fall, followed by a redesigned mid-sized TL sedan in the spring of 2013. (ConsumerAffairs.com)

— David Lazarus

Photo: Despite economic hard times, more people are expected to hit the road this holiday season. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times