Less satisfaction about airline-service quality — surprise, surprise

When Peter Yesawich talks, people in the travel and tourism industries listen. As keynote speaker at the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau's annual meeting recently, he rattled off statistics from his company's survey research on the latest travel trends. His firm—Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell—conducts the oft-quoted annual National Leisure Travel Monitor.

Some interesting tidbits:

• 17 percent of business travelers agree that "The quality of service on airlines is improving," way down from 58 percent in 2000. Much of the discontent (60 percent) stems from the uncomfortable airline seating in all but business- or first-class service. Forty-two percent would love to avoid air travel altogether if they could.

• 50 percent of business travelers agree that the quality of hotel service is improving, compared with 72 percent in 2000. Thirty percent think the quality of rental-car service is improving, compared with 64 percent in 2000.

• Only a third of business travelers said they planned to extend business trips this year to take some leisure time, compared with 60 percent in 2000. The reasons: They don't get enough sleep on business trips (48 percent); airport security is too much hassle (42 percent); they eat too much when on business (26 percent); they get too lonely (19 percent).

• 29 percent of business travelers said they participated in video conferencing or a webcast last year, and 33 percent report trying to use new technology to cut down on business travel.

• 26 percent of leisure travelers said they planned to "take fewer vacations" this year. Only 12 percent said it was because of the high price of gasoline. Fully a quarter of respondents cited "financial reasons," while slightly fewer (24 percent) said they weren't "able to get away from my job/work." Nineteen percent said they had too many things "I need to do at home."

• "Time poverty has reinvented the way we vacation," Yesawich said. "Minutes and hours are now more important to us than dollars and cents."

• Couples comprise 61 percent of leisure travelers, and adults traveling with children, 31 percent. Solo travelers comprise 28 percent of the leisure market.

• Yesawich spent some time talking about what he calls "the carbon-neutral conundrum." Half of his survey respondents said they would be "more likely to select a supplier who demonstrates environmental responsibility."