Aqua Expeditions Finds Most Americans Want to Vacation at the Beach

Travel advisors with clients in South Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Texas and Alabama, roll up your sleeves and get selling. According to new research from Aqua Expeditions, these are the five states most in need of a vacation (as rated by residents of each state). The survey, which ran over two weeks in November 2022 and was answered by 2,200 people across all 50 states, also found that the ideal vacation setting is at the beach (33%) and that hotels are people’s top accommodation of choice (24%).

Sadly, the survey also found that many Americans (25%) don’t believe they can afford their ideal vacation, giving travel advisors the opportunity to showcase high-value vacation options like cruises and all-inclusives.

Here are some highlights of the survey’s findings:

Ideal Vacation Setting
Beach – 33%
Mountains – 23%
City – 14%

Ideal Vacation Accommodation
Hotel – 24%
Beach House – 20%
Log Cabin – 16%

Getting to Their Ideal Vacation
Drive – 41%
Fly – 31%

Ideal Vacation Destination
Domestic – 52%
International – 48%

Ideal Vacation Companion
Significant Other – 53%
Family – 22%
Friends – 15%

Ideal Vacation Time of Year
Somewhere Warm in Winter – 52%
Somewhere Warm in Summer – 22%
Somewhere Cold in Summer – 17%

Top 10 “Need a Vacation” States (on a scale of 1 to 10)
South Carolina – 8.64
West Virginia – 8.60
Maryland – 8.54
Texas – 8.34
Alabama – 8.31
Florida, Mississippi – 8.30
Rhode Island – 8.28
Georgia – 8.24
New York – 8.22