Despite the economic downturn, travelers continue to search for experiences that fit their specific preferences, beyond simply looking for the lowest price for flights or hotels.

So far in 2009 alone, NileGuide users have selected over 500,000 travel preferences with "kid-friendly" as the top user-selected preference, followed by "historical," "romantic," and "off the beaten path." In response to the demand for user preferences, NileGuide has released a new series of pages highlighting these travel themes, from Family Travel to Romantic Getaways as well as Adventure and Budget Travel.

"This data indicates that, in tough economic times, travelers remain highly sensitive to the quality and relevancy of their travel experiences. In fact, getting the most out of a trip may take on increased importance as the number of vacation days shrinks," said NileGuide CEO Josh Steinitz. NileGuide's data shows that the average length of a trip has declined by 27% since July 2008, confirming that travelers are spending less time on getaways, making that time even more precious.

Similarly, a study of NileGuide users in the Los Angeles area revealed that, while they continued to search for travel experiences that met their specific interests, they did react to changing economic conditions by dramatically increasing their focus on closer-to-home vacations—-among this group, searches for travel within California increased from 4% to 33% since last fall.

Clearly, while a "staycation" was not an option for these users, they chose to take advantage of local (and thus more affordable) travel destinations.

"Ultimately, these metrics reinforce the value of personalization and providing travelers with the ability to customize based on specific preferences. The value of these preferences is proving to be a constant in the face of changing travel behavior in response to difficult economic conditions," said Steinitz.

About NileGuide:

NileGuide is the only one-stop-solution for personalized travel planning. NileGuide is a completely free service that provides local insights, exploration tools and rich, personalized Guides-To-Go enabling customers to create a travel experience unique to them. It is the world's first truly interactive travel guidebook.

Founded in 2006 and based in San Francisco, NileGuide is a private company whose investors include Draper Richards, KPG Ventures, Austin Ventures, and Tenaya Capital.