This is the season of surveys and ratings, and in the travel field they seem to cover everything from AAAutos to ZZZsleep.
Here are a few to mull over:- The emerging '90s traveler is putting more emphasis on enrichment rather than pure escapism, according to a survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates for Travel & Leisure magazine. More than 80 percent of frequent leisure travelers surveyed rated cultural and historical treasures and places with natural beauty much higher than night life, luxury resorts and shopping. Here's a breakdown of what respondents most often listed as important:
Location with natural beauty, 96 percent; visiting a place where they've never been, 89 percent; creating own itinerary, 89 percent; experiencing cultural, historial or archeological treasures, 83 percent; going off the beaten path, 73 percent; able to take great pictures, 73 percent; examining a different culture, 69 percent.
- Florida tops the list of preferred destinations for winter pleasure trips by nearly 69 million adults - that's 46 percent of the 150 million U.S. travelers - according to the Travel Industry Association's Travelometer, a quarterly survey of travel plans. California ranked next, with Hawaii third at 35 percent.
Other favorite destinations: Colorado, 13 percent; Nevada, 11 percent; Texas, 10 percent; New York state, 7 percent; Washington state, 6 percent; Louisiana, 5 percent. Despite Hurricane Andrew, 95 percent of those heading to Florida did not cancel or postpone their trips, the survey found.
Findings on other travel matters:
- How well do domestic airlines serve the business traveler? Nationwide Intelligence, publisher of business travel information, gave a grade of A to MGM Grand and A-minus to Midwest Express. Delta and Alaska got B-plus, American, USAir and Horizon received a B, and United, America West, Southwest and Air Wisconsin a B-minus. Northwest, Aloha, Hawaii and Comair earned a C-plus. Continental had a C and TWA a C-minus.