Sample size is the base on which the data are analyzed. Generally it is the number of people who responded to a survey, but in the case of travel, it may also be the number of Trips or Stays, particularly if these are the "population" you are counting or describing.

Not in the DKSA data where information is collected for each destination visited (Stays) on a trip including the purposes of the stay and the activities participated in.

This question has a two part answer. First, we survey a national representative sample of adults. This sample includes both travelers and non-travelers. Because we include non-travelers, we can determine the proportion of the total U.S. population who is traveling.

Second, to ensure the incoming sample remains representative, it is re-balanced each month against the U.S. population on gender, age, education, income, and residence geography.

While online data collection is less expensive and quicker to field, we have found, after a great deal of testing, that there are significant differences in travel behavior between those who respond to online surveys and those who respond to mail surveys.

In addition, most current online panels tend to be populated by those who "opt-in" rather than those who are invited to join creating a panel of self-selected survey takers.

Breaking the Hotel/Motel Industry into mutually exclusive segments allows greater discrimination of behavior and flexibility. To define the segments, chains are clustered by business/leisure mix, competitive set and room rate. Small Chains and Independents (SC/I) are clustered by room rate. Every year room rate ranges are re-evaluated to determine whether room rate ranges need to be increased. Following is the three and six segment breakdown: