Travel industry wants you and your rebate

— -- Next week, the first of 130 million Americans will be getting tax rebate checks designed to help jump-start a sputtering U.S. economy. And travel marketers, already skittish about the effects of lofty airfares and record gas prices, are out to convince them it's their patriotic duty to spend the cash — up to $600 for individuals, $1,200 for couples and $300 for a dependent child under 17 — on a trip away from home.

But whether the come-ons will inspire plans for a summer vacation or spur resentment from debt-burdened consumers is open to debate.

According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,016 U.S. adults last weekend, only one in five respondents said they were likely to use part or all of the rebate money for a vacation or travel, and 64% said they were "not at all likely" to spend it for that purpose. A March poll by travel insurance vendor Access America, meanwhile, found that 11% of surveyed households making at least $50,000 in annual income planned to spend the rebate on travel.

Among the optimists is economist Stephen Morse, director of the Tourism Institute at the University of Tennessee.

In a new report, Morse and co-author Warren Jahn argue that a variety of factors are countering this year's strong financial headwinds, from the "perfect timing" of tax rebate checks at the brink of the peak summer vacation period to surveys that showed consumers spent more than they had indicated they would when similar stimulus checks were issued in 2001.

"People are tightening their belts, but they also realize this is a one-time rebate," says Morse, who says consumers may use the cash to offset higher gas prices on driving vacations. "They may spend some of it on home repairs or on paying down debt, but they still feel they deserve to get away."

That strikes a chord with Alex Brown. Though the Sacramento-area tech support worker "rationalized for about five minutes" about whether the money should be spent elsewhere, she decided to spend her $600 rebate on her upcoming honeymoon in Monterey.

But while it may be a "reasoned response in our capitalistic society for the travel industry to say 'Come spend your money here,' you have to strike the right tone," says Lalia Rach of New York University's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management. "I don't think this is an opportunity to just repackage and raise prices."

Says Peter Yesawich, CEO of Ypartnership, a travel marketing firm: "It's not politically correct to appear indulgent right now. We're starting to see a tremendous number of deals because demand is softening. But (destinations and travel companies) don't want to come across trying to capitalize on what is a difficult situation for many people."

When Tennessee's Pigeon Forge tourism department debated whether to launch a tax rebate program, "our first thought was of appearances … doesn't that look unseemly, or at least, couldn't our potential guests view it that way?" says spokesman Tom Adkinson.

As a result, Pigeon Forge decided to skip a targeted, community-wide effort in favor of reminders that the destination is "geared toward families and modest budgets in the first place."