SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - October 02, 2015) - It's no secret that giving back is one of the prime motivators of happiness. But giving back, until recently, has been relegated to writing big checks and giving time to neighborhood soup kitchens.
It turns out that travel is now one of the key ways people are giving back and getting back much more than they ever expected. Tours.com's Travel-Intel reviews recent surveys conducted by Phocuswright and Tourism Cares to find out how travel with purpose is playing out in the travel industry and how American travelers are making planning choices based on immersive, purposeful experiences and charitable travel expenditures.
Not surprisingly, the survey learned that Millennials make the most generous travelers. Of the travelers surveyed who are inclined to give while traveling, Millennials were far more generous with their time, money and in-kind donations than any other generation -- 81% volunteered, 78% donated cash and 83% gave in-kind during their most meaningful trip from the last two years.
In another survey featured in Travel-Intel this week, family vacations were under the microscope. In this study, released this week by Expedia and GfK, it was noted that family travel now accounts for a full one-third of all leisure trips booked in the United States. For all the hassle that traveling with children can bring, parents are taking at least one trip a year ensemble, and more than a quarter of those questioned take two trips a year with children.
On the dark side of family travel, Expedia's 2014 Airplane Etiquette Study found "Inattentive Parents" to be a most offensive element on airplane trips. This year's study adds that 3% of American parents who travel with their family admit to having "temporarily lost track" of a child while on vacation.
Travel-Intel is a publication that goes out weekly to more than 103,000 sellers of travel. It is also posted online at Tours.com. The publication reports from travel conferences and expos, as well as popular hotels, exotic resorts, cruise ships and ports, and destinations near and far with stories that feature the latest intel on travel. Current issues and archives can be viewed at www.travel-intel.com.
This week's issue also features a worthwhile tip for leaf-lovers during this change of seasons. Twin Farms in the foothills of Vermont's Green Mountains is an easy hop from Boston and New York and a great getaway -- from everything. The resort -- once a writing lair and working farm owned by author Sinclair Lewis -- features only 20 accommodations and each has its own cozy design. The resort also has an award-winning culinary team at the ready to pamper guests. Twin Farms is a member of the exclusive Kurtz-Ahlers collection of luxury hotels, resorts and destination specialists.
In other stories, Travel-Intel looks at a cruise gone bad, asking -- and answering -- what could have been done to avoid such a vacation abrasion. One vacation worth the doing might be a trip to the southeast coast of France where the black truffle is known to pop in patches under the shade of oak and hazelnut trees. Travel-Intel details a tour that puts these valuable Périgord truffles into the hands of river cruise passengers who can take a day to hunt for the nuggets in the vineyard-carpeted countryside.
Finally, October is not just a month in autumn, it is also the month of Halloween and ghost tours abound in all corners of the country. Travel-Intel offers the definitive guide to finding zombies, vampires and plenty of paranormal activity, real and produced.
"Travel-Intel is about delivering intel on travel to those who need it: namely travel agents, tour companies and travelers trying to make hard travel choices," says Lark Gould, content director for Travel-Intel and Tours.com. "We keep readers informed with the latest travel surveys and trend analyses but also deliver the fun stuff -- where to go for a variety of needs and wants."
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 present great travel deals to be found at hotels and resort locations worldwide. Travel-Intel can be viewed as a stand-alone site on Tours.com. Gould publishes travel columns and stories for Barclay's Travel Community, the Washington Times, Business Travel Executive, and Business Traveler USA, as well as eTravel.news and Larkslist.
Tours.com is The Only Worldwide Directory of Tours and Vacations. The most comprehensive tour and travel directory Tours.com is celebrating its 20th anniversary as an authority website, which launched 1995. It features a deep and searchable database of tours and tour companies according to company, region and experience. It is also a one-stop
resource for all travel information, important phone numbers for travelers, regional experts, and travel agent specialists certified with in-depth knowledge in their chosen areas. For local sightseeing information in cities and towns around the world, companion site, Sightseeing.com, is the resource.
Tours.com is a now an official member of the America Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and proudly wears its logo.
For more information visit www.tours.com.
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Direct: 415-786-9108
