MSU Extension Economic Development

Destination Analysts (DA), a tourism research and marketing company based in San Francisco publishes quarterly reports with in-depth reviews of the American leisure travel landscape. Recently, The State of the American Traveler: Destinations Edition (Winter 2019, Volume 31) reported on travel expectations, motivation, activities, media use and in this particular edition, surveyed travelers' concerns around climate change. This report briefly explores the American Traveler perspective as to how they anticipate being impacted by climate change in the next five years. 

After surveying a sample of American adults, DA's quarterly report revealed that 50% of American leisure travelers expect climate change to impact their travels at some point in the next five years. The most common response from travelers surveyed was that "climate change would effect the time of year in which they travel (p. 7)." Survey results also revealed percentage of travelers anticipate climate change will:

• Change the destinations they choose to visit (20.9%) 
• Change the timing of their trips (28.5%) 
• Change how they travel (15.2%) 

While these statistics are less than the majority of respondents, they do demonstrate the growing awareness and concern of climate change's impacts on travel and therefore should also be considered by the destinations. 

Travelers can take small steps to limit their impacts on the environment and climate change. Here are some suggestions on how to go green and limit your impact. 

Although Destination Analysts' reports are designed specifically for Destination Marketing Organizations, their reports can also help local communities understand behaviors and perceptions of American travelers when launching, sustaining and/or expanding a local or regional tourism industry. Furthermore, DA also provides research and reports in areas related to international travelers, technology and use of mobile devices for travel. These three areas are particularly important for large and/or small destinations interested in staying relevant in the 21st century because international travel increases annually and so does the use of technology and mobile devices. Additional DA reports are available for free by visiting their website. 

Research Methodology - Destination Analyst allows readers to understand their research better by providing summary of research methodologies employed for their reports. This information can typically be found in the first couple of pages in most quarterly DA reports.