Concord, MA—TomTom today released the results of a global survey on summer travel plans and preferences. The survey found that 5 percent more Americans are planning summer vacations this year than last—in 2012, 61 percent of people are planning a getaway, up from 56 percent last year. The results also showed that the vast majority of people are staying stateside, with 82 percent of people traveling within the United States. Additionally, the road trip is alive and well with American travelers—70 percent of people are planning to travel to their destination by car.
The TomTom study found the top three reasons Americans choose their destinations are 1) it is far away, 2) it is relaxing, and 3) they want to explore. Sixty-seven percent of Americans believe that it is important to go on a summer vacation, but budget travel is also still a top priority for people—59 percent of people spend less than $1,200 in total on their vacations. If money were no object, TomTom found that most people would choose to visit a tropical paradise island (29 percent), go on a road trip (20 percent) or go on a cruise (15 percent).
Travelers looking for a tropical paradise getaway can apply for TomTom’s Map Paradise Project, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for five families or groups of friends to spend two weeks on a tropical island and “earn” $15,000 for mapping it. The Map Paradise Project will help create five new navigable maps for: Fiji, St. Lucia, Mauritius, Cape Verde, and the Seychelles. To apply, visit the TomTom promo page at www.tomtom.com/summer.
It should be noted that residents of Canada are eligible (and Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States, too).
