Changes in Vacation Travel in Response to Motor Fuel Shortages and Higher Prices

Abstract

This study presents findings from a survey administered in November 1975 among a sample of households in southeastern Wisconsin to determine, among other things, the shifts in travel vacations that occurred in response to the higher fuel prices that developed between 1973 and 1975 and that might occur in response to the alternative futures of still higher fuel prices and restricted fuel availability. Specific socioeconomic variables significantly distinguished between households that changed vacation plans and those that did not make changes between 1973 and 1975. We found that the following variables significantly influenced vacation travel: occupation of the household head, household income, education level of the household head, age of the household head, number of children in the household aged 15 and under, and geographic location of the household. Under futuristic alternatives of either higher prices or restructed fuel availability households were willing to experiment with various vacation adjustment strategies. This indicates a lack of clear preference among households for any one strategy.