With the shaky economy situation that the United States is currently experiencing, it has everyone hanging on to their money with a tight fist. The spending habits of individuals have become more managed and people are being quite frugal with their hard earned dollars these days. All of this is because we have seen the effects that the economy’s financial crisis has had on employment, businesses, corporations, home foreclosures, the demand for real estate, and the automotive industry, among various other things. However, another thing that has been affected by the unsteady economy situation is the amount of individuals who are traveling.
In the past, traveling was very popular among residents all over the United States. However, since the financial crisis has come upon us, traveling is less crowded these days. There are numerous different reasons that keep individuals from catching the travel bug.
And the reasons why individuals are not traveling as much or as far are:
The priority to save money
Spending money effectively and efficiently
Gas Prices
Limited Funds
Fear of uncertainty
These are just a few of the many reasons that keep people from traveling. The ill standing of the economy is mostly to blame for this. Individuals know that their jobs may not be as solid and as secure as they had previously thought, which has encouraged them to spend less on unnecessary expenses and begin savings just in case some tragic event would occur. A tragic event is something such as a layoff from their place of employment.
Individuals also know that in a time of financial crisis, they should make sure they are spending their money wisely and getting the biggest bang for their buck. Gas prices have been a huge turn off for travelers. The citizens of the United States have watched gasoline prices skyrocket and then teeter back and forth from reasonable to outrageous prices. At one point, Americans witnessed gas prices increase to a jaw dropping four dollars and something a gallon, which was only a few cents away from being five dollars per gallon.
This was a huge increase in gas prices, seeing as how the average gas price was around $1.09 back in 1999. Back in 1999, gas prices were no more expensive than $1.17 per gallon, which was considered a little steep back then.
Another reason that holds individuals back from traveling as much or as far is because of their limited funds. If an employee was saved from being laid off from their job, chances are that they probably received a significant cut in their salary or in their amount of hours. This means that they are living on limited funds, which can put quite the damper on an individual’s life when they have become comfortable living on a certain amount of income. These are some of the major reasons that keep people from catching the travel bug and going on vacations, especially since vacationing is not a life necessity. It was a luxury that can not be enjoyed as frequently due to the unpredictability of the economy.
Since the majority of my readers are entrepreneurs, my strongest advice on this subject is the last item in the above list; Fear of uncertainty. This type of fear can and will actually paralyze you from literally taking any kind of action, guaranteeing the certain slow death of your business. You must continue to move forward with your business, both in operations AND marketing. Perhaps slower and with more caution and due diligence, but forward nevertheless, because as soon as you stop, you will start to die. Many of my consulting clients have come to me with their new found fears and we work through them quickly, to insure they are making decisions based on logic and not fear. This is critical, because once the fear based decisions take over, your business and marketing plans will be all over the place like the silver ball in a pinball machine (hmmm, I think I’m showing my age).
All for now
