Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jan 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Hugo Martin

INTEREST IN TRAVEL TO DENVER GETS HIGH

Colorado became the nation's first state to permit the sale of 
recreational marijuana, starting Jan. 1.

And since then, interest in travel to Denver has soared. Coincidence? 
Probably not. A data research company found that searches for airline 
travel deals to Denver have been outpacing searches for all other 
U.S. destinations, with a big surge starting Jan. 1.

The study by Hopper Research in Boston found that interest in travel 
to Denver climbed 6.3% above the national average in December and 
then jumped 14% during the first week in January. The study looked at 
billions of travel queries through online travel sites and 
bricks-and-mortar travel companies.

The interest in traveling to Colorado has been higher in some cities 
than others.

The biggest increase came from Nashville (63% increase), Minneapolis 
(58%), Detroit (53%) and Cincinnati (47%), according to the study.

Patrick Surry, Hopper's chief data scientist, said it may not be a 
coincidence that some of the cities with the biggest increases in 
travel searches to Denver have strict drug laws.

"We can't say the intentions of the people looking for those 
flights," he said. "But this suggests that it might be a reaction to 
the demand" for marijuana.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom