Houston Fast Park Survey Finds Americans Not Cutting Travel Plans but Seeking Ways to Save Money

March 5, 2009

HOUSTON , March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a survey conducted by Fast Park, an off-site airport parking company, 66 percent of its business and leisure travel customers plan to take the same number of trips as they did last year. Although they do not plan to cut travel plans, they are looking for ways to save money on those trips.

According to the airport parking company survey, almost 50 percent of travelers will reduce expenses over the next six months. Fifty percent plan to look for online deals, 27 percent will plan trips closer to home, 21 percent will shorten trips and 11 percent listed other ways.

Fifty-three percent of business travelers reported their employer has taken measures to reduce travel costs in 2009. Of those, 56 percent said their companies mandated specific cost cutting travel policies; 54 percent said companies cut travel across the board; 38 percent restricted the number of employees allowed to travel; 14 percent established new partnerships with services in exchange for discounts and 13% reported other measures.

"It's clear most of our customers want to (or must) continue traveling despite current economic conditions," said Manuel Chavez , chief operations officer at Fast Park. "We're all affected by the current economy in one way or another. Many of our corporate partners are unable to reduce their travel and we understand their need to reduce expenses. We're working with these groups individually to develop bulk rate discounts whenever we can."

Fast Park offers exclusive airport parking discounts to its frequent parkers and corporate partners. They also provide online deals and coupons at fastparkandrelax.com.

The Houston facility is also helping pet owners through a partnership with Pet Paradise (located minutes from Fast Park). Customers who leave their pets at Pet Paradise and park at Fast Park will have their parking fees deducted from their Pet Paradise boarding fees. Almost 50 percent of its surveyed customers said they own a pet with a majority of them (72 percent) leaving their furry friends with family, friends or a pet sitter while they're away.

Fast Park's Houston facility, located at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, provides a shuttle service that picks up patrons outside their car door. The facility provides covered parking, complimentary jump starts, flat-tire assistance, free bottled water, free newspapers, free luggage assistance and free activity books for kids. Fastparkandrelax.com offers an online coupon of $4.78 per day, excluding tax, at the Houston facility.

Fast Park, headquartered in Cincinnati , is an off-site airport parking company operating 18 facilities in 12 markets throughout the country. Business units of Fast Park include Airport Fast Park, FastPark & Relax and Park Place . Airport Fast Park facilities are located in Albuquerque, N.M. ; Austin, Texas ; Baltimore (two facilities); Cincinnati ; Cleveland ; Memphis, Tenn. ; and Miami . A Park Place facility is located in Cleveland . Fast Park & Relax facilities are located in Cincinnati ; Houston (three facilities); Milwaukee ; Orlando ; Raleigh, N.C. ; and Tucson, Ariz.

SOURCE Fast Park