World Tourism Blog

Ten million more people visited national parks last year than in 2008, but the numbers fell short of the all-time record for park visitation from 1987.

More than 285 million people visited national parks and other units of the National Park Service during 2009, up from nearly 275 million in 2008, according to statistics the agency released Tuesday.

The record for visitation to national parks was set in 1987 at 287.2 million.

Still, the 3.9 percent increase in 2009 visitation compared to 2008 was a triumph for the park system in a year when many sectors of the travel industry suffered a downturn due to the weak economy.

“People both here and abroad know that our national parks are America’s best idea, even during an economic downturn,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a statement. “Our national parks are treasures that tell the story of our country and celebrate its beauty and culture, and they provide vacation bargains for families living on a tight budget.”

Factors that may have contributed to the increase in numbers in 2009, according to the park service, include three weekends last summer when park entrance fees were waived; visits by President Obama and his family to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon; publicity from Ken Burns’ televised series about the national parks; lower gas prices; and the strong value of the euro against the dollar, which encourages European tourism to the U.S.

Although the system overall did not set an attendance record, some individual parks had their best years ever in 2009, including Yellowstone, which saw 3.3 million people.

Overall, Yellowstone was fourth on the list of most-visited national parks in 2009. The National Park Service said Great Smoky Mountains National Park “continued its reign” as the most popular park, with 9.5 million visitors last year. Grand Canyon was No. 2 on the list, followed by Yosemite, Yellowstone, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Zion, Cuyahoga Valley, Grand Teton and Acadia.

The Blue Ridge Parkway was the most-visited unit of the park system with nearly 16 million visitors. Home Security Systems.

If you’re fancy free and love to wander, the price might finally be right to travel solo.

Instead of punishing travelers who prefer to go alone with hefty surcharges, the travel industry is starting to woo them with deals that tickle their wanderlust without ravaging their wallets.

“The tour industry is making way for the single traveler,” said Margie Jordan, spokesperson for the American Society of Travel Agents. “This is nothing that’s going to go away. The single traveler is going to have as many opportunities as anyone else.”

For years most travel deals were based on two people traveling together.

“Single travelers would see a price on line and we’ve had to break the news that if you’re going by yourself, it’s 150 to 200 percent more,” said Jordan, CEO of ASAP Travel. “They were left high and dry.”

But times are changing and Jordan said cruise lines in particular are stepping up. MSC Cruises is currently offering trips that waive the dreaded single supplement, which accounts for the price hike.

“And Norwegian Cruise Line is introducing ‘Studio’ staterooms built and priced solely for the single traveler,” she added. “It is actually something new in the cruise industry.”

Maria Miller, of Norwegian Cruise Line, said the 4,200-passenger Epic that is due to launch in July, is equipped with 128 studio staterooms designed specifically to give the solo traveler a room of one’s own.

“This is a great opportunity for us to go after the solo traveler market,” she explained. “We’ve tapped into an unmet need.”

With research showing 35 million adults take solo vacations but only five percent opt for cruises, Miller said the potential is huge.

“There’s a sizable market out there, but discontent around the single surcharge,” she explained.

So, solo prices on the Epic will not include a single surcharge.

“And we’re talking solo, not singles,” Miller said, distinguishing solo travelers from the meet-and-mate crowd.

“There certainly is a place for singles cruises, but that’s not what we’re trying here. The solo traveler is independent. They’re not looking for us to create an experience for them.”

Kate Moeller, of Club Med North America, knows a thing or two about changing demographics.

“We used to be really a singles destination, but then we became more family oriented,” she said.

Moeller said Club Med’s Solo Savings program waives the single supplement to accommodate the solo traveler at certain resorts.

“We have these deals in specific theme weeks in specific resorts,” she said. “Recently, we had a Zumba week, food blogger week, food and a wine week.”

Jordan said the cruise industry is likewise sensitive to change.

“Everybody is looking for the newest, most innovative thing. We’ve seen really creative things with cruise ships: bowling, surfing. Now we’re looking for who else we can bring in.”

She added that other cruise lines are waiting on the success of Norwegian’s solo experiment.

“Now when refurbishing in dry dock, they add balcony state rooms. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw Carnival or Royal Caribbean follow suit by introducing studio cabins,” she predicted. Home Security Systems.

The travel industry is working to redefine itself as a key player in the American economy by showing how it helps companies improve profits, serves as a source of tax revenue and provides jobs.

Geoff Freeman, U.S. Travel Association senior vice president, said factors that include the recession, a spurt of public anger over extravagant business travel and politicians who lashed out at the travel industry resulted in $2 billion worth of events and meetings being canceled when the rancor was at its peak early this year.

If over the years the industry had done a better job of articulating why it is a vital economic force, the damage likely would not have been so great, Freeman said Tuesday at a national marketing forum organized by the association.

“We had left ourselves exposed, terribly exposed. We were the folks that were an easy target,” Freeman said.

Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau, said hospitality groups focus too much on hotel and meal taxes, when they should tout their economic impact, including sales taxes and property taxes they bring communities.

The convention business can do more to paint a picture of the people who work in the industry and note that travelers don’t drain city services, Moore said.

Citing research by Oxford Economics, a consulting firm that collaborates with Oxford University’s business college, Freeman said that for every dollar companies spend on business travel, they get an average of $12.50 in revenue and $3.80 in profit.

Christine Duffy, president and CEO of Maritz Travel Co., a corporate meeting organizer, said meetings are a tool for keeping “employees engaged and motivated.” Hard money training