Survey by Irving-based Allstate Motor Club on 2009 travel coins annoying new word, “nay-cation”

by PegNews wire

IRVING — Requests for vacation planning dropped 22% from 2007 to 2008 according to the Allstate Motor Club. Job stress and financial pressures are factors triggering the decrease, say Allstate insurance agents in Texas who asked customers about their travel plans.

The state's second largest home and auto insurer asked its 1100 Texas agents, who sell Allstate Motor Club, for a pulse-check of consumers in their communities. Close to 90% of the surveyed agents say customers' uncertainties about the economy and their jobs are the main reason for putting off travel plans. According to Allstate, many consumers are opting instead for the phenomenon of the "naycation" - a step beyond the idea of staying local for vacations and choosing to simply stay home all together.

"We routinely discuss finances with our customers and many families are telling us they're watching their wallets this summer. Others feel they can't take time off work because of mounting job pressures," said Thomas Whitaker, an Allstate agent in Duncanville. "The big, annual, family vacation may not be as much of a priority in 2009."

Driving for Deals

Not everyone is staying home. Slightly more than 10% of Texas Allstate agents report consumers are traveling the same or more this summer, citing great travel deals and better gas prices.

The surveyed Allstate agents were in the following Texas cities or surrounding areas:

Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Sherman, Tyler/Longview, Waco, and Wichita Falls.

Source: The Allstate Corporation