The US market is coming back strongly with 53% of Americans planning to travel more in 2012 and 66% planning to travel more internationally, according to Cape Town Tourism (CTT) US representative, Adel Grobler.

Presenting insights into the US market at a CTT workshop in Cape Town, she said 25% of US travel agents are predicting a 10% boom in travel in 2012.  Although only 33% of US citizens have a passport, their annual international tourism expenditure totals $74.6bn annually, making the US the world’s second most valuable source market after Germany.

She pointed out that Americans only have 14 days leave a year (versus 24 days standard internationally), meaning they take shorter long-haul trips and look for quality experiences. “Americans are nervous about their job security so they take very little time out,” Grobler explained.

She added, “As unique travel experiences become an increasingly relevant status symbol in the US, a trip to South Africa provides the American traveller with significant bragging rights”.  Some 262 013 Americans visited South Africa last year, overwhelmingly for the first time, but the majority stayed for seven days only. They are mostly aged between 35 and 44 years or older than 65 years. Some 60% make their bookings independently. They want to connect and live like the locals, experience things, want to feel appreciated, be welcomed by name and are looking for scenic beauty and authenticity.

 Grobler said the US travel industry is highly segmented with 100,000 travel agents and various consortiums. “It’s important to target them as partners. All sell directly to the consumer, so the inbound tour operators and travel agents also need to know about your product,” she advised. The US market is similarly segmented and has highly developed niche tourism sectors like culinary tourism, health and wellness travel and extreme adventure tourism. Environmental tourism, solo travel, health and wellness travel and multi-generational travel are on the increase.

She said social networking is the most important and easiest way to reach US consumers. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Foursquare are widely used. “You must be online and respond on-line,” she advised. US travelers use the internet to research and online bookability of accommodation and tourism experiences are important.

Typical US traveler profiles include:

•    The Millennias (born 1981 – 2000): Highly educated, very connected, prioritise travel with education. Experience is important for this market.
•    Generation X (born 1965 – 1980):  Largest internet audience, 52% married with familes, 70% make internet bookings or use internet travel agencies
•    The Babyboomers (1946- 1964):Wealthiest; prime age for travel; travel a priority; want to immerse themselves, but it must be sanitised experience.