Who's Traveling These Days?

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 19, 2013) - The use of both Smartphones and tablets has increased so rapidly since 2011 that it has spawned a new class of traveler -- the "Digital Elite." These individuals own and use at least two digital devices and often use them to plan and purchase travel services -- so much so that what was shown to be 5 percent of all active travelers in 2011 is now one third (33 percent) of active travelers today, an increase of more than 600 percent.

The latest issue of Travel-Intel reveals some startling facts about this new class of traveler as it reports the findings from a recent survey that looked at the travel buying habits of 1,258 U.S. households determined to be active users of digital devices.

These are just some of the stories in this week's issue of Travel-Intel. The weekly travel industry news channel from Tours.com reaches more than 140,000 sellers of travel in the U.S. and Canada.

Also of interest: JetBlue is getting into the premium seats business with new "lie-flat" seats that will be offered on coast-to-coast flights from California to New York starting in 2014. The progressive, discount airline hopes to attract more business flyers on these popular routes and boost comfort levels that most airline passengers have seen fly away over the past several years.

For those who are traveling farther afield, perhaps in a quest to get off the beaten track, if not off the grid, Northstar Cruises in Australia, a member of the exclusive Kurtz-Ahlers Collection of luxury properties and vacation experiences, has released its latest tour and itinerary options available for the 36-passenger True North luxury sailing yacht. These include swimming with whale sharks off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Travel-Intel has the details.

Closer to home, Travel-Intel profiles a stay at the venerable US Grant Hotel in Downtown San Diego, which has hosted 13 presidents in its 102-year history. Similarly, this issue also gives the rundown on America's top historic hotels, as selected and rated by AAA.

Finally, Travel-Intel looks at how Holland America Line will be featuring a line-up of international cruises this fall and onward into 2014, which begin and end in San Diego -- allowing passengers to travel internationally to Mexico, or to Hawaii, Tahiti and the Marquesas through the delight of a cruise experience without having to suffer the inconveniences of flying internationally.

Travel-Intel, a division of Tours.com, monitors the travel industry with weekly updates on trends, news and destinations for a subscriber base of more than 100,000 travel agents in the U.S. and Canada, and an overflow of travel companies around the world. The publication dispatches writers to travel conferences and popular travel destinations to bring back the latest intel. Current features and archives can be viewed at www.travel-intel.com.

"In America, we are travelers. The right to travel and the habit of traveling is built into our very fabric," says Lark Gould, content director for Travel-Intel and Tours.com. "Travel-Intel helps travelers make informed decisions about where to go and how to get there and also helps travel agents make the best recommendations to their clients."

As a veteran travel journalist who has been covering the travel industry for more than 20 years, Gould puts her incisive perspective into the weekly publication, with features and news updates, and also "packages" issues that detail great deals to be found at hotels and resort locations worldwide. Travel-Intel can be viewed as a stand-alone site on Tours.com. Gould also serves on the editorial team for travel in the online communities section of the Washington Times, and publishes her columns in Larkslist.

About Tours.com: Tours.com since 1995 - The Official Directory of Tours & Vacations Worldwide. Tours.com has a deep and searchable database of vacation and tour companies searchable by company name, destination and/or activity. A comprehensive one-stop Travel Resource section, plus the Find a Travel Agent Specialist search allows one to search for travel agents with in-depth knowledge in their chosen specialty.