BUS BUSINESS PLAN

Bus Business Plan

Bus Business Plan

Travel Industry

After a disappointing 2009 when industry revenue declined 4.4% and brick-and-mortar travel agencies lost sales to internet businesses, they began their recovery in 2010. Despite the losses incurred, IBIS World estimates revenue will grow at an average annualized rate of 4.6% over the five years to 2011, with revenue expected to grow 8.3% to $21.6 billion in 2011. Although industry revenue grew over the period, other key statistics declined. The number of industry establishments fell at an estimated 2.3% per year on average to 14,792, while the number of industry employees decreased at an average yearly rate of 1.9% to 117,551.

In 2009, the decline of the domestic economy and increase in the unemployment rate forced people to become more selective regarding how they spent their disposable income; consumer spending declined 1.2% in the year. As such, they were less likely to spend money on nonessential travel. With the economy slowly improving throughout 2010 and 2011, consumer spending grew 1.7% in 2010 and an estimated 2.7% in 2011. As such, a greater number of consumers and business customers are taking trips (www.goglamping.net).

Market Segmentation

The market for bus and travel industry is divided into various segments. The various segments are as follows:

Age demographics

The main market for the bus transportation is Generation X (born 1965 to 1980), which accounts for 31.0% of all travel. Mature travelers (born before 1946) and young boomers (born 1955 to 1964) each account for 21.0% of all travel. Older boomers (born 1946 to 1954) account for 15.0% of all travel, while Generation Y (born after 1980) accounts for 12.0% of all travel (www.greathuts.com).

Middle and low income individuals

According to the study it is proven that the majority of middle income and low income individuals are witness to travel in buses to visitor various glimpses and places. The bus travel caters to these individuals rather than high income people because these individuals are more likely to have their own transportation while touring different places. (www.glampinghub.com).

International visitor arrivals

International visitors to the United States account for about 15.0% of total visitor expenditure in the United States. In 2011, there will be a total of 58.9 million international visitor arrivals (including from Canada and Mexico) (www.goglamping.net).

US residents travelling overseas

Significant growth in US residents travelling overseas occurred until 2008, when the domestic recession hit hard. It increased from 55.7 million in 1998 to 64.1 million in 2007, but fell to 61.5 million in 2009. Again, international travel fell from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks through to the end of 2003 due to the heightened geopolitical tension and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (www.viator.com).

Market Trend

After fighting declines, the bus travel industry has begun its recovery, with revenue forecast to perk up in 2011 and 2012. IBIS World forecasts revenue will increase at an average annualized rate of 1.7% to $23.5 billion through 2016, with revenue growing 3.8% to $22.4 billion in 2012. This forecast growth is due in part to increased travel spending that is expected over the ...