Gimme A Break!

American Demographics, March 1, 2004

Byline: COMPILED BY CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS

38% of students (2.14 million) traveled for spring break last year. Student Monitor LLC (SM)

$1 billion was spent by spring breakers partying between Florida and Texas in 2003. Marketing to the Campus Crowd & TWENTYSOMETHING Inc. (MCC&TSI)

17% of students traveled outside the U.S. during spring break last year; most of them (12 percent) went to Mexico. (SM)

Top 4 spring break destinations: (1) Panama City Beach, Fla. (2) Daytona Beach, Fla. (3) South Padre Island, Texas (4) Lake Havasu, Ariz. Approximately 1 million college students spend spring break at one of these four cities. (MCC&TSI)

540,000 students went to Panama City Beach, Fla. last year. (MCC&TSI)

$170 million was spent by spring breakers in Panama City Beach, Fla. last year. (MCC&TSI)

$315 was the average amount spent by each spring breaker in Panama City Beach, Fla. last year. (MCC&TSI)

$428 million was spent online by students buying airline tickets and booking hotels in 2003. (SM)

14% of the online booking was done on Expedia.com. (SM)

$300 the roundtrip airfare from New York City to Panama City Beach, Fla. Expedia.com

$615 was the average total amount spent by spring breakers going to Panama City Beach, Fla. AD estimate based on MCC&TSI data

$188 was the average amount of college students' monthly discretionary spending, $427 less than the amount spent on spring break trips. (MCC&TSI)

6% of the college market visited at least one of the top four spring break destinations. (MCC&TSI)

49% of college students have a passport. (SM)

27% of students have traveled internationally in the last year and 42 percent plan to this year. (SM)

36% of college students had their parents make travel plans for them in 2003. (SM)

97% of college students over the age of 21 are likely to drink during spring break. American Medical Association (AMA)

97% of college students under the age of 21 are likely to drink during spring break. (AMA)

18 drinks per day the number of alcoholic drinks the average male has while on spring break. Journal of American College Health (JACH)

10 drinks per day the number of alcoholic drinks the average female has on spring break. (JACH)

80% of parents said they were concerned about college students drinking alcohol during spring break. (AMA)

91% of parents say spring break marketing and promotional practices that promote dangerous drinking should be stopped. (AMA)