Travel Industry Association of American Press Release

Date: October 21, 1998
Contact: Cathy Keefe (202) 408-2183

Travelers Speak Out On Travel Taxes

WASHINGTON -- U.S. travelers, who spend more than $70 billion a year in travel-related taxes, say they are well aware of the taxes they are paying but they have varying opinions about how the taxes should be spent.

The results are part of the TIA Travel Poll, a monthly survey of 1,200 U.S. adult travelers which was one of two travel tax reports released today by the Travel Industry Association of America. The poll found that an impressive 90% of all travelers
are aware of the travel taxes they pay. This is significant because, with many travel purchases, the taxes are often not made clear to the traveler.

In particular, three-quarters of past year travelers (75%) recalled paying a restaurant meal tax in the past year while on a trip. Other highly recalled taxes included gasoline tax (73%), hotel tax (62%) and highway tolls (45%).

Those who were aware of the travel taxes they paid differed in a number of ways from those who didn't pay travel taxes or were unaware of it. They were more likely to be married (66% vs. 50%) and have multiple people living in their household (92% vs. 84%). Those aware of travel taxes were also more likely to have attended some college (72% vs. 58%) and have higher average household incomes ($60,000 vs. $41,000). Among those not aware, there was a higher share of 65+ (23% vs. 14%) and retired travelers (28% vs. 17%). In some communities, the travel tax money that is paid goes to help pay for new tourism facilities which may include convention centers, visitor welcome centers, or to pay for advertising to encourage visitors to come to that community. In other communities, the travel tax money paid goes to general fund expenses which may include education, police or social services in that community. Some communities do both.

Half of travelers favor using travel tax money for the general fund of the local community (50%). About one-half of travelers also favor using this tax money to benefit the travelers to that area, such as in setting up 800 numbers so visitors can get tourist information (47%). One-third of travelers feel it is "very appropriate" to use tax money to pay for advertising to encourage visitors to come to that community (36%), to build visitor welcome centers (35%) and to pay salaries of local tourism offices (32%). New sports stadiums got the lowest share of support, with one-half of travelers saying it is "not at all appropriate" to fund them through travel taxes (52%).

TIA is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $541 billion travel industry. TIA's mission is to represent the whole of the U.S. travel industry to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States.

Travel Industry Association of America
1100 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20005-3934
202-408-8422, Fax 202-408-1255
 

In the News