Dague 1

Kyra Dague

Ms. Hasken

Computer Applications I

31 January 2020

Growth and Development of the Travel Industry

Growth in the travel industry has paralleled the growth in the transportation industry.

Developments in the transportation industry have cut travel time and increased comfort greatly in

the past 200 years. In the early 1800’s a businessperson would spend about one month traveling

by boat from New York to London or Paris. Not only did this travel consume a great deal of

time, but it also often involved discomfort. Today, businesspeople can travel in comfort between

North America and Europe in a matter of hours by jet.

Pleasure travel has also seen remarkable growth and now accounts for nearly 80% of all

travel, according to Crossley and Jamieson (220). Notably, this percentage is up from about 50%

in 15 years.

A major social trend of the past 20 years has been the increase in the number of married

women who have entered the workforce. Many ‘two-career families” cannot find time to take

long vacations together. As a result, weekend and long weekend trips now account for just over

50% of vacation travel (Dorsey 6).

The following table gives figures for business and pleasure travel that were reported by

Cook (15-24) in 2013. These figures serve as a benchmark for industry personnel to compare

today’s business and pleasure travel with that of “yesteryear”. Figures are reported for male and

female travel, mode of travel, and lodging accommodations of travelers for both business and

personal travel.
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Works Cited

Cook, S., ed. Domestic Travel in Review. Proc. of Travel Review Conference, 2013. Washington,

DC: U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, 2013.

Crossley, John C., and Lynn M. Jamieson. Introduction to Commercial and Entrepreneurial

Recreation. 2d ed. Champaign, IL: Sagamore, 2013.

Dorsey, J. “Survey: U.S. Residents Will Take Shorter Trips Here and Abroad.” Travel Weekly,

27 May 2012: 6.