Day trip tourism numbers dwindle

Forget the thermos, the day trip is in the past
*
By BRONWYN HURRELL in Canberra
20jul05

THE days of mum and dad packing up the kids in the car for a "day trip" are dwindling, research by the tourism industry claims.

While more than half of the domestic tourism dollar is being spent in regional areas, with longer-term country stays on the rise, the popularity of the old-fashioned day trip is waning.

The trend is blamed on competing activities, lack of spare time and increased fuel prices.........

....... There was an across-the-board dip, however, in domestic day-visitor expenditure across the nation.

In South Australia, five of seven regions experienced drops in day trip spending from the previous year.

The Fleurieu Peninsula had a $19 million downturn, the Limestone Coast dropped $21 million and the Barossa Valley fell $8 million. Day trip dollars to the Adelaide Hills dropped by $9 million and the Flinders Ranges by $17 million. The Adelaide CBD and Murraylands were the only areas to record an increase in day trip spending......

...... Tourism Research Australia director Dr Peter Robins said the national trend towards fewer day trips was a combination of lifestyle factors.

"There are many more things for people to spend their money on, like mobile phones, plasma TVs and gambling expenses," he said. "Also, people who have got the money may well be time poor. They're working long hours and, when both partners work, it means it's difficult to have time."

Dr Robins said increasing petrol prices "would have an effect". "People may think twice before they fill the tank up and go 200km for the day just for fun," he said.

For the purposes of the research, day trips were seen as round trips of at least 50km, with the tourist away from home for at least four hours................

*

See full story Here!

*