Las Vegas was the most popular domestic travel destination among US travellers in 2015. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 4, 2016.Las Vegas was the most popular domestic vacation spot for US travellers last year, while London outranked Paris and Rome to be the most popular international destination.
That's according to the latest Hotel Price Index from Hotels.com, which provides a sweeping look at where Americans traveled in 2015, the types of deals they got and the types of deals to be had in 2016.
After looking at the number of bookings within its own database, analysts found that Las Vegas was the top choice among US staycationers, followed by New York, Orlando, San Diego and Los Angeles.
Canada was also a popular vacation destination for US travellers last year, who took advantage of the strength of the American dollar against the weakened loonie (Canadians' terms for their dollar) to attend major international sporting events like the FIFA Women's World Cup, Pan Am Games and World Junior Championship for ice hockey. The most popular destinations in Canada included Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Niagara Falls.
Visitors to Toronto also saw a 5% decrease in hotel rates over the year previous.
Despite posting the highest hotel rates in Europe (US$257 or RM1,060 per night), Americans continue to be enamoured with London, which was the top international destination.
Elsewhere in Europe, the strength of the US dollar helped drive down hotel rates in cities like Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin (where rates averaged $131 a night).
Perennial favourites Paris and Rome also reported double digit drops in 2015.
Istanbul offered the cheapest European vacation in 2015, with travellers paying an average of US$125 a night.
And if data from last year is anything to go by, travellers looking for a budget-friendly holiday abroad this year may want to consider Bangkok, which posted average hotel rates of US$91 last year, and Bogota, Colombia, where hotel rates dropped a steep 21% in 2015 compared to the year previous.
Rio de Janeiro also posted a 30% decrease in room rates last year following the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but rates will no doubt shoot back up during the summer Olympic Games. – AFP/Relaxnews, March 4, 2016.
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