Hotel Real Estate News: Where Do Americans Travel?

With summer winding down and holiday travel plans beginning to take shape, Hotels.com® has released the most popular cities from the first half of 2015, highlighting the most popular domestic and international destinations based on data from the Hotel Price Index™ (HPI®).

Top Domestic Destinations
While the Top 10 U.S. destinations for American travelers remained largely the same as the first half of 2014, several Southwest and Midwest destinations rose in popularity. After seeing record-breaking crowds this year, the Grand Canyon region made the biggest jump in the rankings from outside the Top 50 to #45. Phoenix also experienced an increase in popularity in the first half of 2015 after being on the national stage and hosting the country’s biggest sporting event in February. The city jumped two spots to become the 27^th most popular domestic destination, replacing Atlantic City, which fell 12 spots to #39.

Kansas City (#29) and St. Louis (#30) also made big leaps as each moved ahead four spots to join Chicago (#6) and Detroit (#28) as top Midwest destinations. California hotspots San Diego (+1 spot to #4) and Anaheim (+2 to #17) also rose in domestic popularity, but with a revitalized downtown and a flurry of new restaurant openings, it was the state capital of Sacramento (+4 spots to #31) that saw the biggest increase on the west coast.

50 Most Popular Domestic Cities for American Travelers
City	*H1 2015 vs H12014 Change**	City	H1 2015 vs H12014 Change	City	H1 2015 vs H12014 Change
1. Las Vegas, Nev.	No Change	18. Philadelphia, Pa.	-1	35. Reno, Nev.	+3
2. New York, N.Y.	No Change	19. Seattle, Wash.	-1	36. Raleigh, N.C.	+1
3. Orlando, Fla.	No Change	20. Dallas, Texas	+1	37. Jacksonville, Fla.	-1
4. San Diego, Calif.	+1	21. Nashville, Tenn.	-1	38. Newark, N.J.	+2
5. Los Angeles, Calif.	-1	22. Portland, Ore.	No Change	39. Atlantic City, N.J.	-12
6. Chicago, Ill.	No Change	23. Tampa, Fla.	+1	40. Savannah, Ga.	+1
7. San Francisco, Calif.	No Change	24. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	-1	41. Honolulu, Hawaii	-2
8. Washington, D.C.	No Change	25. Myrtle Beach, S.C.	+1	42. Albuquerque, N.M.	+1
9. Houston, Texas	No Change	26. Charlotte, N.C.	-1	43. Columbus, Ohio	+1
10. San Antonio, Texas	No Change	27. Phoenix, Ariz.	+2	44. Charleston, S.C.	-2
11. Atlanta, Ga.	No Change	28. Detroit, Mich.	No Change	45. Grand Canyon	New to list
12. Boston, Mass.	No Change	29. Kansas City, Mo.	+4	46. Arlington, Va.	-1
13. New Orleans, La.	No Change	30. St. Louis, Mo.	+4	47. Pigeon Forge, Tenn.	+3
14. Denver, Colo.	No Change	31. Sacramento, Calif.	+4	48. Oklahoma City	No Change
15. Miami, Fla.	No Change	32. Indianapolis, Ind.	-2	49. Memphis, Tenn.	No Change
16. Austin, Texas	No Change	33. Baltimore, Md.	-2	50. Virginia Beach, Va.	-4
17. Anaheim, Calif.	+2	34. Salt Lake City, Utah	-2

Top International Destinations for Americans
For U.S. travelers going abroad in the first half of 2015, Canada again was the place to visit. Toronto (#4) and Vancouver (#5) remained in the Top 5, while Montreal jumped two spots to #6 and Niagara Falls remained in the Top 20 at #14.

The list of most popular international destinations for Americans in the first half of 2015 also featured several newcomers. Budapest’s international airport is on pace to break 2014’s record number of passengers and the Hungarian capitol saw one of the biggest jumps in popularity internationally, breaking into the rankings at #41. Meanwhile, Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez (#44), which launched a tourism campaign called “Juarez is Waiting for You” in April to attract travelers, entered the Top 50 at #44.

Other international cities to rise in popularity in the first six months of 2015 included Bangkok (+10 to #11), Punta Cana (+9 spots to #40), Sydney (+5 spots to #28) and Dubai (+5 spots to #17).

50 Most Popular International Cities for American Travelers
City	Country	H1 2015 vs H1 2014 Change	City	Country	H1 2015 vs H1 2014 Change
1. London	United Kingdom	No Change	26. Riviera Maya	Mexico	+3
2. Paris	France	No Change	27. Prague	Czech Republic	No Change
3. Rome	Italy	No Change	28. Sydney	Australia	+5
4. Toronto	Canada	No Change	29. Milan	Italy	+3
5. Vancouver	Canada	No Change	30. Copenhagen	Denmark	-2
6. Montreal	Canada	+2	31. Shanghai	China	-6
7. Barcelona	Spain	-1	32. Panama City	Panama	+3
8. Tokyo	Japan	-1	33. Los Cabos	Mexico	-2
9. Hong Kong	Hong Kong	No Change	34. Vienna	Austria	+2
10. Amsterdam	Netherlands	No Change	35. Athens	Greece	+3
11. Bangkok	Thailand	+10	36. Beijing	China	-6
12. Venice	Italy	No Change	37. Stockholm	Sweden	+4
13. Madrid	Spain	+1	38. Edinburgh	United Kingdom	+2
14. Niagara Falls	Canada	-3	39. Bogota	Colombia	No Change
15. Florence	Italy	-2	40. Punta Cana	Dominican Republic	+9
16. Mexico City	Mexico	No Change	41. Budapest	Hungary	New to List
17. Dubai	United Arab Emirates	+5	42. Vallarta	Mexico	+1
18. Dublin	Ireland	-1	43. Bali	Indonesia	New to List
19. Istanbul	Turkey	-1	44. Ciudad Juarez	Mexico	New to List
20. Cancun	Mexico	No Change	45. Calgary	Canada	No Change
21. Berlin	Germany	+3	46. Frankfurt	Germany	+1
22. Singapore	Singapore	-3	47. Brussels	Belgium	+3
23. Munich	Germany	+3	48. Buenos Aires	Argentina	-11
24. San Juan	Puerto Rico	-9	49. Reykjavik	Iceland	New to List
25. Seoul	South Korea	-2	50. Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	-6

*H1 is the first half of 2014 or 2015

Top U.S. Destinations for International Travelers
New York (#1), Las Vegas (#2) and Orlando (#3) remained the three most popular U.S. destinations for international visitors in the first half of 2015, while San Francisco surpassed Los Angeles and Miami to reach the #4 spot. The Grand Canyon rose in popularity amongst international visitors as well, moving from #24 to #20. The national park was recently named the sixth most popular international landmark on Chinese travelers’ wish lists according to the Hotels.com Chinese international Travel Monitor.

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