Talk To Travel Agents The U.S. is home to more than 46,000 travel agencies, with most located in California (1,775 businesses), New York (1,559 businesses) and Florida (1,190 businesses). Promotional products distributors can work with independent agents and larger travel companies to generate leads and build brand awareness. Source: IBISWorld Bring On The Bleisure “Bleisure”—a blend of leisure and business travel—will continue to be a major trend in 2022. About 60 percent of business trips turn into bleisure trips. Here are some top reasons why, according to a Stratos Jets survey of business travelers: Traveling to a bucket list/must-visit location 43% Traveling to an easy-to-navigate city 38% Traveling close to the weekend 37% Traveling to a great recreation city 34% Traveling with friends 32% Flight Facts • About 2.9 million people fly in and out of U.S. airports every day • The FAA handles about 16.4 million flights a year • During peak times, there are about 5,400 aircraft in the sky • The U.S. is home to more than 19,000 airports Source: Federal Aviation Administration Travel Jobs Are Taking Off According to the U.S. Travel Association, the travel industry supports nearly 16 million jobs and is the nation’s seventhlargest employer. As travel continues to pick up steam in 2022, businesses in all sectors of the travel industry will need more workers. Companies can use promotional products to attract talent and stay visible in a competitive market. Cruising Comeback In 2019, the global cruise industry reached a record high serving nearly 30 million passengers. This number plummeted to about 5.8 million last year, according to Statista. While it’s not quite smooth sailing for the cruise industry yet, many cruise lines are reporting robust demand. According to Travel + Leisure, Carnival, one of the world’s leading cruise lines, already has more bookings for 2022 than it had in 2019. Cruise lines looking to promote getaways to potential customers use eye-catching direct mail and onboard promotional products, such as branded room gifts and contest prizes, to help make the experience more memorable. Hit The Road More people are taking a great American road trip—and doing so in an RV. According to Go RVing, RV ownership hit a record high this year, with 11.2 million households owning an RV. This is up 62 percent from 2001 and 26 percent from 2011. Since space is tight in an RV, useful, multi-functional promo products and those that fold away, collapse or attach securely to solid surfaces are most in demand for companies trying to reach these travelers and the companies that serve them. | DECEMBER 2021 | 45 GROW
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