With suitcases in hand 43.8 million Americans are looking forward to the Memorial Day holiday where the unofficial start of summer takes place, with AAA Travel estimating that Athens is among the international destinations chosen at this time by US travelers.
In particular, Americans once again show their… weakness to the Old Continent, with 8 out of 10 international destinations they choose to visit during the Memorial Day holiday (24-27 May) being in Europe.
Athens is in seventh place in the top 10 international destinations, while Italy is in first place.
Popular travel destinations
This Memorial Day weekend, travelers are looking for theme parks and entertainment venues in Orlando, New York, Las Vegas and Southern California. Seattle, Anchorage and Vancouver rank high due to the popularity of cruises to Alaska this time of year. While, Florida beaches and cruise ports are predicted to be crowded.
European cities dominate the international list of destinations chosen by Americans.
Here are the top 10 domestic and international travel destinations for Americans, based on AAA booking data.
Domestic destinations international destinations
Orlando, Florida Rome, Italy
Seattle, Washington Vancouver, Canada
New York London, England
Las Vegas, Nevada Paris, France
Anaheim/Los Angeles, California Dublin, Ireland
Denver, Colorado Amsterdam, Netherlands
Anchorage, Alaska Athens, Greece
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Barcelona, Spain
Miami, Florida St. George, Bermuda
Boston, Massachusetts Edinburgh, Scotland
Top travel trends
As Americans make plans for summer and beyond, AAA Travel has identified the following trends:
Bucket Lists: many are planning once-in-a-lifetime trips.
Milestones: Families are booking trips to celebrate anniversaries, retirements and family reunions.
Focus on Asia: More Americans are interested in visiting Asia, especially Japan.
Solo travel: Increased numbers of travelers, especially women, are interested in traveling alone.
Luxury holidays: More and more travelers are looking for cruises and high-end tours.
Rail travel: A growing number of Americans are showing a preference for train travel to New England, Canada and Europe.
New England, New York, New England, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand: American travelers are turning to trips to Antarctica, Africa and the South Pacific.
Meanwhile, a recent survey of AAA travel agents found that 51% of agents say more Americans are interested in protecting their travel.
Also, according to the survey:
77% of agents say American travelers are choosing ocean cruises.
70% say they choose all-inclusive vacations.
67% say they choose river cruises.
