WASHINGTON Travelers in the United States spent 3.4 percent more for meals on the road during February than they did during the same stretch of 2006, according to the Travel Industry Association of America, a trade group that promotes domestic travel.
The spike compares with a 2.8 percent rise in travel prices overall, or what the TIA calls the Travel Price Index, and was outstripped only by the 4.3 percent jump in lodging prices and a 4 percent climb in the price of alcoholic beverages. Gas and diesel prices, the group noted, fell by 1.4 percent.
The TIA pointed out that the Consumer Price Index rose 2.4 percent during the month.
The information was released as the industry continues to explore ways of promoting tourism, particularly a new sort called culinary tourism, where dining out is an end rather than a mere necessity of being away from home.