The Travel Professor
Join me on a journey across the broad spectrum of interesting travel topics. We’ll discuss destinations domestic and abroad, some familiar and some off the beaten path. We take a look at suppliers like cruise lines, air carriers and tour operators and find their bargains and special offerings. Got questions? Email thetravelprofessor@gmail.com.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Domestic 2008 travel hot spots

In a recent “Hot Spots for Summer Travel” survey conducted by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) Orlando (17.5%) and Las Vegas (15.4%) were named the most popular domestic summer travel destinations booked by travel agents.

While the domestic destinations in the top 10 have remained the same since 2006, their rankings have not. New York City, for example, fell to seventh place after five years in the number three spot, with San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami moving up two spaces each to numbers three, four and five respectively. Seattle moved up from number nine to number six in this year’s survey. San Diego, Honolulu and Washington DC were also ranked in the top ten domestic destinations.

When looking at which states see the most summer travelers as booked by travel agents, not surprisingly, Florida again came out on top in 2008, accounting for 23.6 percent of all responses with cities such as Orlando , Miami , Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa . Nevada drew the second largest number of responses a 15.7 percent share with almost all the travel for Las Vegas. In 2007, Florida topped the top state destinations, accounting for 28.0 percent of all responses; Nevada drew the second largest number of responses a 19.2 percent share.