Fourth Straight Week of Increases in AAA National Travel Barometer; Internet TripTiks up for 7th Week in a Row

    ORLANDO, Fla.--May 15, 2003--Hot on the heels of AAA projecting that this year's Memorial Day travel would match its lofty 2002 levels, the most recent AAA National Travel Barometer shows Americans have increased their travel planning for the fourth consecutive week.
    The National Travel Barometer for the week of May 5 to May 11 showed overall travel agency bookings - cruises, tour packages, car rentals and hotels - at 32,900 bookings, up 2 percent from the 32,300 bookings the previous week.
    Online TripTik(R) routings increased for the seventh straight week to 132,300 from 124,300 the previous week. These trip routing requests are now 16 percent higher than they were before the U.S.-Iraq war and reflect, in part, the 35 million Americans expected to take Memorial Day trips. Of these holiday travelers, AAA projects 29.4 million will drive.
    The AAA barometer is based on a sample of 13 clubs representing more than half of the association's 46 million members. It is intended to help gauge the strength of the leisure travel market.
    "Americans are responding to many of the deals that have been offered to travelers, so people who wait much longer to make summer travel plans might find themselves out of luck," said AAA Travel Vice President Sandra Hughes.
    A summary of the National Travel Barometer's measurements for the week of May 5 to May 11:

--	Tour packages (8,900) were 102 percent of the previous week's total (8,700).
--	Hotel bookings (13,300) totaled 103 percent of the previous week (12,900).
--	Car rental reservations (5,000) were at 106 percent of the previous week (4,700).
--	Visits to AAA travel offices (31,500) were at 104 percent of the previous week (30,300).

    Cruise bookings (5,700) were the only item that fell, coming in at 93 percent of the previous week (6,100). That previous week had seen a 17 percent increase spurred by a wave of discounting among cruise lines. (All numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.)
    As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides its members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully-tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.

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