As the economy begins to shift gears from dismal to slightly improved, the travel industry sees some reason for hope — but not much.
The U.S. Travel Association expects travel spending in the United States to decline by nearly 9 percent this year, to $705 billion, which includes domestic business and leisure travel as well as spending by international visitors. Spending is expected to increase by 6 percent in 2010, but that does not make up for the large dip in 2009.
“I describe these numbers as being less bad — but they’re certainly not good,” said Suzanne D. Cook, senior vice president for research at the trade group.
Read the full story at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/business/13travel.html?_r=4