• Of the 547.1 million domestic (i.e., within the U.S.) trips of 50 miles or more, one way, taken away from home by Americans in 1998, 45 percent or 247.3 million involved a hotel or motel stay. While hotel/motel trip volume was up three percent from 1997, the incidence of 45 percent was unchanged.

• Nearly half of hotel/motel trips are for business (45%), while 43 percent are for pleasure reasons. The remaining 12 percent are taken for other purposes.

• The 247.3 million trips that involved a hotel or motel stay in 1998 generated 777.2 million hotel trip nights. Business travelers made up half of all the hotel trip-nights, while pleasure travelers represented 40 percent.

• Almost half (42%) of all hotel trip-nights are generated by travelers whose primary mode of transportation is air, while only 34 percent of hotel trips are generated by air travelers. Travelers who fly to their destination produce more hotel nights than travelers who drive do.

• One-third of hotel/motel trips are taken by air, a greater share than among all U.S. domestic trips (34% vs. 23%).

• Hotel/motel travelers report longer trip durations than do U.S. domestic travelers overall (3.9 nights vs. 3.3 nights).

• Three-fifths (59%) of all hotel/motel travelers have household incomes over $50,000, while only half of all U.S. domestic travelers have incomes over $50,000. Over a third (35%) of hotel/motel travelers have an annual household income of over $75,000, followed by those with household income between $50,000-$75,000 (24%), $30,000-$50,000 (22%) and less than $30,000 (20%).

• Over half (51%) of hotel/motel travelers who are on business fly to their destination, more than twice the percentage of pleasure hotel/motel travelers (20%).

• Over three-fourths (79%) of all business hotel/motel travelers travel alone to their destination, more than twice the percentage of hotel/motel guests traveling for pleasure (32%).

• Over two-thirds (69%) of business travelers who stay in a hotel or motel report household incomes of $50,000 or more compared to 50 percent of hotel/motel guests that are pleasure travelers.

• Almost three-fourths (71%) of business travelers who stay in a hotel or motel have a college degree or more, while 43 percent of pleasure travelers have at least a college degree.

• Over half (53%) or 131 million of hotel/motel trips include one adult only, while 31 percent (75.5 million) include two or more adults, and 16 percent (40.7 million) include children.

• Less than one-fifth (17%) of trips including a hotel/motel stay had children under 18 years of age on them. Of these 40.7 million trips, pleasure is the dominant purpose of the trip (67%), while business represents 17 percent of all hotel/motel trips that included children.

• Over three-fourths (79%) of the hotel/motel trips that include children utilize an automobile as the primary mode of transportation to their destination. Only about half (55%) of the hotel/motel trips without children are by car.

• The summer months (June, July, August) are the most popular time for hotel/motel guests with children to travel (44%), while on the other hand, there is not a preferred travel season for those hotel/motel guests without children.

• Among hotel/motel guests, those traveling with children are more likely to participate in popular trip activities than are hotel/motel guests traveling without children. Shopping (31%), visiting historical places/museums (20%) and visiting theme/amusement parks (20%) are the most popular activities for those hotel/motel guests with children.

• The primary mode of transportation of hotel/motel guests is directly related to household income. The higher the household income, the more likely hotel/motel guests will use air transportation to get to their destination.

• More than two-fifths (42%) of hotel/motel travelers stay in a hotel/motel between 2-3 nights on their trip, followed by those that stay for one night (30%) and those that stay four nights or more (28%).

• Over one-quarter (27%) or 65.9 million, of all hotel/motel travelers indicate that they go shopping while on their trip, while 22 percent visit a historical place and/or a cultural event and 11 percent gamble on their trip.

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