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Okay,
I admit, my idea of
roughing it IS a hotel
without room service but
for those more
adventuresome and wanting
to spend more of their
vacation budget on
activities, camping can
be a wonderful option.
With
camping facilities
everywhere and many more
luxurious than some
hotels you may have
occupied, Americans in
this study found tent
travel a good way to make
vacation dollars travel
further.
The
Summer of Our Discount
Tent
Ask.com
and ReserveAmerica Report
Surge in Camping Trends
as Consumers Look to
Stretch Their Dollars
This Summer
Oakland, Calif., July
21, 2008 - Americans are
planning a summer full of
credit crunch camping -
with families opting to
ditch expensive hotels
and exotic destinations
as gas prices continue to
soar.
With just a little
over a month left before
kids all across America
head back to school,
popular search engine
Ask.com is experiencing a
surge of questions
related to camping
vacations, campsites and
camping equipment.
Ask.com has approximately
32 million unique monthly
U.S. visitors (comScore,
May 2008).

Search terms including
"camping vacations,"
"best family campsites"
and "cheap tents" have
more than doubled in the
past 30 days.
Additionally, the queries
"How to build a
campfire," "roasting
hotdogs" and "how to make
s'mores" have also
doubled in the same time
period.
"Search engines are
great social barometers,
and this year it's a case
of thrift spending as
Americans choose camping
over pampering," said
Andi Riggs, Vice
President and Search
Trends Expert at Ask.com.
"Usually at this time of
year we see a huge jump
in queries for vacation
packages of all kinds,
but this year there has
been a phenomenal spike
in interest in cheap
tents... and also where
to pitch them," says
Riggs.
According to a recent
poll conducted by
ReserveAmerica, the
United States' leading
recreation reservation
service, 16% of those
polled chose camping
solely because of the
cost savings versus a
typical family vacation.
Thirty percent chose
camping because of high
gas prices, and 30% said
they are camping closer
to home this year.*
"Our advanced online
reservations for
campgrounds are up 8%
this summer as compared
to last, and the biggest
trend we're seeing is
people looking for parks
and camping options
within 100 miles of their
home," said John
McDonald, VP of Marketing
& Business
Development
for ReserveAmerica, which
is used by more than 17
million campers to
research and plan trips
each year.
Among travel-related
searches on Ask.com,
"theme park ticket
discounts" and "cheap
flights" tie for #1 in
July, replacing the
traditional top query,
"last minute vacation
packages," which fell to
#5.
One thing remains
certain: wherever
Americans may be headed
this summer, rising gas
costs are sure to take a
toll on the budget. To
find the best gas prices
close to home and on the
road, Ask.com visitors
who enter the search term
"cheap gas" and then
enter their zip code into
the Smart Answer module
presented at the top of
the results page can find
the cheapest gas deals
(1).
About Ask.com

Ask.com, a
wholly-owned business of
IAC (NASDAQ: IACI), is
one of the leading
general search engines on
the Internet. The Ask
network of sites has more
than 127 million
worldwide unique monthly
users, according to May
2008 comScore data.
Ask.com syndicates its
search technology and
advertising solutions to
a network of affiliate
partners.
About ReserveAmerica
ReserveAmerica is
North America's leading
camping reservation and
campground management
solutions provider.
ReserveAmerica
specializes in complete
reservations solutions,
stand-alone call
center/database
management tools, online
reservations solutions
and park software
solutions. The Company
manages the largest
reservable campsite
inventory with
partnerships throughout
North America.
ReserveAmerica is an
operating business of IAC
(Nasdaq: IACI).
* Culled from 2,000
responses to a poll of
ReserveAmerica customers,
conducted summer 2008.
(1) Pricing data is
obtained from 3rd party
sources. Ask.com makes no
representations,
warranties and/or
covenants as to the
accuracy, timeliness,
coverage, and/or
completeness of such
data.
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