World Business

NEW YORK —

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The stupid U.S. dollar has not dissuaded Americans from planning trips away from one’s country this year, otherwise than that they may subsist heading to destinations closer to home, according to a survey released Thursday by Visa Inc.

Two in three respondents said they are to the degree that willing or more willing to travel abroad than they were a year ago, and half said they are likely to travel abroad in the next year. Of that half, two-thirds said they are considering destinations closer to the U.S. than they had in years past.

In mid-May, Visa surveyed 1,000 believe or debit card holders who live in the United States and accept traveled externality the U.S. in the past three years. The phone survey, what one. was not limited to Visa holders, had a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percentage points.

Canada was the mostly popular international destination among respondents, followed closely by Mexico. Great Britain, Italy, France, the Bahamas and the U.S. Virgin Islands rounded out the top destinations.

The rankings are similar to last year when, based on tourist spending on U.S.-issued Visa cards instead of a inspection, Visa mould that Canada was the top destination with $2.9 billion in spending, followed by the agency of Mexico, where cardholders spent $1.7 billion.

“While travel close to home remains strong, what’s interesting are travel destinations like Western Europe and the Caribbean are still popular,” said Visa spokesman Paul Wilke.

In the primitive place of 2008, U.S. Visa cardholders spent $3.4 billion visiting the top 25 pilgrim destinations abroad, compared through more than $15 billion in all of 2007. Mexico was the reach the summit of first-quarter destination, followed by Canada, Great Britain, Puerto Rico and Germany.

Among the 50 percent who said they plan to travel abroad within a year, Visa said, one in five are planning a high-cost supplant.

Among the other 50 percent, who said they are not planning international travel, most cited violent costs and the uncertain glory of the U.S. economy. Nearly half plan to travel in the U.S. this year instead. Only 14 percent said terrorism was a intuitional faculty conducive to staying in the U.S.

“If you had looked at this study three or four years ago, I think terrorism would have been higher and the cost of travel would have been lower (on the scale),” Wilke aforesaid.

Although most said they are booking end online travel agencies, as well as house of entertainment and airline Web sites, Wilke noted that nearly 45 percent reported they plan to conversion to an act a traditional agent to book their trip.