Most popular U.S. tourist destinations for European travelers
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When the U.S. announced plans to lift an 18-month-long travel ban in September, Europeans wasted no time making plans — particularly the Brits.
According to Travelport, the number of searches for flights between London and New York City increased by 1.4 million in the 24-hour period following the September 20 announcement. This makes it the most-requested U.S. bound flight search.
It didn’t however get the highest number of bookings for that day.
Europeans booked the most seats on another route — London to Orlando — according to Travelport, which analyzes bookings made through travel agents and websites like Priceline and Booking.com.
According to Katie Cline (a Senior Director at Travelport), this “underscores leisure travel demand’.
Rebound in business travel
The Sept. 20 announcement, which indicated early pandemic-era travel bans would be replaced by vaccination and Covid-testing protocols for international travelers, specified a start month — “early November” — but not an effective date.
This was enough for leisure travelers to head straight to the computers and book travel long into the future. Most of the early bookings to Orlando, Florida — home to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort — were for trips in the summer of 2022, said Cline.
The average number of searches made for New York City flights to London in the 24-hour period following Sept. 20’s travel announcement was nearly 1,000 per minute.
Moment – Getty Images| Moment | Getty Images
The Biden Administration made the announcement on Oct. 15 new rulesThe Nov. 8th start date was set. The result was a flood of business traveler reservations for trips that were to be made before the year ended.
Cline said that corporate travel from London-New York nearly doubled since the announcement.
This trend is supported by Adara, a travel marketing company that provides hotel booking data.
Book period September 1 to Nov. 8, | Booking period Sept. 1 to Nov. 8 | Travel period Nov. 8 to Jan. 9
European business and leisure travelers booked U.S. hotel rooms at comparable rates up to mid-October. After that, business bookings skyrocketed.
Where are the Europeans going?
Cline stated that the popularity of Orlando was quickly eclipsed by London-New York, a transatlantic flightpath.
Adara says that New York City is also the most popular destination for booking hotel rooms.
Travel: November 8 through January 9. For leisure, Nov. 8 and Dec. 18.| Hotel booking: Sept. 1 to Nov. 8 | Travel: Nov. 8 through Jan. 9 for leisure ; Nov. 8 to Dec. 18 for business
According to the company, European tourists also prefer cities and sun-centric places.
Many Europeans are still less interested in European cities than they were in 2019, but most of them continue to attract more interest. Adara reports that hotel bookings for Phoenix have increased by 84% in business travel, and Honolulu has increased 139% for leisure travellers. Miami also has returned to pre-pandemic form.
Phoenix is a great choice for businesses because it offers decent air service and fantastic golfing.
Carolyn Corda
Adara, CCO & CMO
Adara’s Carolyn Corda, Adara’s Chief Commercial Officer, stated that Phoenix has been attracting a lot of interest due to smaller conferences.
According to her, “Phoenix is attractive to businesses because it has good air service, great playing golf, and other outdoor activities.” It’s easier to organize participants at resorts than in Las Vegas.
European travellers aren’t just interested in hotels. Searches for U.S.-based house rentals increased by 91% on Vacation Rental Website HomeToGo after the September 20th announcement.
New York City ruled again. According to a survey, it was the top-searched U.S. location for houses rentals from European tourists between August and October. HomeToGo. The top 10 remaining states were held by just five countries:
- California: Orange County (No. 2), L.A. (No. 5), San Diego (No. 5), San Diego (No. 10)
- FloridaMiami-Dade County, (No. 4), Broward Country (No. 6)
- Hawaii: Honolulu (No. 3)
- ColoradoSummit County (No. 8)
- Pennsylvania: Pocono Mountains (No. 9)
HomeToGo reps said that much of the third-quarter growth is due to “the Workcation phenomenon.”
You have a ‘need’ to travel right now
Adara reports that the U.K. is the most popular “origin market” for travelers from Europe to America since September.
According to Travelport, the British are still leading the way. Its data showed that in the 24 hours after the Sept. 20 travel announcement, U.S.-bound flights from the U.K. were searched more than U.S.-bound flights from all other European countries combined.
The Oct. 15th announcement was followed by The number of flights between the U.K. and the U.S. during Thanksgiving weekend increased 2,200%. Cline believes this was due to the reunited families and the American Black Friday shoppers.
She added that this demonstrates the larger trend for “the need to travel right now.” “November was the most popular month for travel to the U.S. from Europe, and November 8th — the day of reopening — was the most popular departure date.”
We are on the verge of recovery
Cline said that the increase in international travel was good news for the struggling travel industry. He said, “This is our first ever.” [had]There has been a tremendous increase in transatlantic business travel, ever since the pandemic.
It is far from complete recovery however. Adara reports that the aggregate demand for hotels bookings from travelers coming from Europe, Africa and the Middle East in the U.S. has fallen 43% since 2019.
Adara reports that British business travellers made twice as many U.S. hotel reservations for the 2021 year-end than they did in 2019.
Travel Nov. 8 to Dec. 18| Booking Sept. 1 to Nov. 2 | Travel Nov. 8 to Dec. 18
Adara
Bookings for German and Swiss business travellers (-65%) have fallen, while reservations by Israelis (21%) are close to pre-pandemic levels.
The Dutch business traveler is not standing by. Adara’s data suggests that U.S. bookings for hotels from the Netherlands increased 44% in 2019 compared to 2019.
Adara released a report in October that said the book sales surge’s speed and length, along with interest in dense urban areas, were all positive indicators of a recovery.
It stated that it expected these trends to keep growing momentum.
Disclosure: Comcast, the parent company to NBCUniversal and which also owns Universal Orlando Resort Resort and CNBC, is Comcast.
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