These Are Americans’ Top Holiday Destinations for 2023
by Briana Bonfiglio /New York City and Cancun are the top holiday destinations for Americans in 2023, according to data gathered by Allianz Partners USA.
The travel insurance company’s annual holiday destinations survey revealed the top 10 domestic and international destinations among more than 3 million roundtrip flights departing U.S. airports from Dec. 16 to Dec. 29 and returning by Dec. 29.
Below are the results, which reveal that – aside from London and Paris – beach destinations came out on top for Americans traveling out of country during the holidays.
Domestic
1. New York
2. Orlando
3. Las Vegas
4. Los Angeles
5. Atlanta
6. Salt Lake City
7. Seattle
8. Pheonix
9. Fort Lauderdale
10. Minneapolis
International
1. Cancun, Mexico
2. London, England
3. San Jose del Cabo, Mexico
4. Montego Bay, Jamaica
5. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
6. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
7. Nassau, Bahamas
8. Paris, France
9. Oranjestad, Aruba
10. Providenciales, Turks & Caicos
New York topped the domestic list for the third year in a row, and Las Vegas notably jumped up four spots to appear in the top three domestic destinations for the first time since the survey started in 2016. Allianz conducts the survey by tracking the number of customers who navigated through the online booking process on the websites of partners offering Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance.
Allianz also released a 2023 European Holiday Destination Index, which revealed a 21% from 2022 increase in travel from the United States to Europe. Destinations such as Barcelona have seen up to a 61% increase in American travelers from last year.
“The continued rise in Americans traveling internationally for the holidays proves there’s still plenty of catching up to do when it comes to checking off their European bucket list,” said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA.
The survey is based on about 1.3 million travel itineraries for flights departing U.S. airports from Nov. 22, 2023 through Jan. 4, 2024. Other significant increases included American travelers to Madrid, Spain (37%), Lisbon, Portugal (47%), and Prague, Czech Republic (51%). Geneva, Switzerland also made the list for the first time with a 12% increase from last year.
These holiday numbers to Europe are an extension of the “revenge travel” trend that began in the summer, when Americans traveling to Europe jumped 55% from 2022.