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Hispanics Travel, Affluent Hispanics TRAVEL

October 1, 2015 Author: Mario X. Carrasco

The travel industry has been going through a transformative period as travel agents and tour operators are struggling to compete with online booking and self-guided vacations driven by online review sites. As the official Hispanic market research partner of the National Tourism Association, ThinkNow Research has created a comprehensive research study delving into the traveling habits of U.S. Hispanics.

The report covers everything from travel habits, preferences, booking, amusement parks, transportation, average spend, and destinations.

This blog focuses on a potential target within the U.S. Hispanic demographic that presents a large opportunity for the travel industry, affluent Hispanics, defined as household incomes $80K+. Our larger report available for purchase delves into all income levels.

The affluent Hispanic traveler represents a unique opportunity for the travel industry in many ways. The first is in travel frequency. When looking at affluent Hispanics vs. affluent non-Hispanics, Hispanics took almost 2 more vacations in the past year vs. their non-Hispanic counterparts:

Hispanic Travel 1

This trend is apparent across all incomes though slight less pronounced with median income Hispanics traveling almost 5 times in the past 2 years vs. 4 times for non-Hispanics. Lower income Hispanics are also over-index with 3.2 vacations in the past 2 years vs. 2.1 for their non-Hispanic counterparts.

In short, Hispanics travel more across all income levels and the difference is especially pronounced among affluent Hispanics. This presents a great opportunity for the travel industry as Hispanics are clearly outpacing their non-Hispanic white counterparts in terms of sheer number of vacations.

This trend continues when we delve into spend per vacation. Looking at the amount spent on their last U.S. vacation, we see Hispanics spending nearly $300 more than non-Hispanics:

US Travel

Broken out by income, this trend becomes even more pronounced:

Travel Income break-up

The above table highlights how large the opportunity is among Hispanics, but even more compelling, affluent Hispanics. Affluent Hispanics average a spend of almost $4K for a U.S. vacation and $6K for an international vacation. Not only are affluent Hispanics traveling more, their spending more per vacation. Doesn’t get better than that for an ideal consumer target in the travel industry.

OK so Hispanics travel more, spend more, but what is important to them? How do I appeal to this super traveler? Our report delves into specifics regarding attitudes about vacations. One data point that provides a clue into what is important to Hispanic travels is regarding their attitudes about vacations. Looking specifically at the statement, “My children influence where we decide to go on vacation” almost 60% of Hispanics agreed with that statement vs. 43% of non-Hispanics:

Travel Influence

This data obviously points to the need for travel agents and tour operators to be aware of a very important decision maker for Hispanics, children.

Hispanics present a unique opportunity for the travel industry and the space is open for brands and companies to make real headway with this demographic. If targeted correctly, U.S. Hispanics can be a saving grace in an industry hit hard by online players.

We are pleased to offer free of charge the full contents of the report referenced in this blog entry. Please click the link below to get your copy now.

Download this study.