Hot Florida Summer: Tripadvisor report reveals three Florida cities claimed top 5 spots on most popular vacation destinations in the world

Courtesy: Image by Michael Draeger from Pixabay

It’s going to be a hot Florida summer this year for travelers looking to visit sandy beaches, and we mean that in both weather and popularity.

Florida is notorious for its beaches, theme parks, and tropical getaways. For anyone who lives outside of the state, these attributes and much more make Florida the ideal vacation getaway for anyone looking to catch some rays or hang out with Mickey.

And while Florida is a popular destination for snowbirds and northerners during the winter months, it’s also equally as popular, if not more, during the summer months. And according to a recent Tripadvisor report, it’s more popular than 99 percent of destinations in the world.

In the report, Tripadvisor released a list of the most popular vacation destinations in the world for this upcoming summer, and Florida had not one… not two… but three cities in the top 5, beating out popular Caribbean destinations such as Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and Tulum, Mexico. 

The travel agency revealed that according to its 2021 Summer Travel Index, two-thirds of Americans are planning to travel this summer between (June 1 – August 31). The massive jump in travel search queries and bookings is likely a direct result of vaccinations and travel restrictions being lifted.

In a partnership with experience management company Qualtrics, Tripadvisor conducted an online survey of over 2,500 consumers between April 1 and April 8, 2021, across the U.S., Australia, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and the U.K. Tripadvisor also sourced behavioral data from first-party traffic through its platform for searches for travel between the summer months. 

After gathering the data the top 10 summer destinations were revealed as follows:

  1. Cancun, Mexico 
  2. Orlando, Florida
  3. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 
  4. Key West, Florida
  5. Miami Beach, Florida 
  6. Las Vegas, Nevada 
  7. Playa del Carmen, Mexico 
  8. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 
  9. Tulum, Mexico
  10. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Surprisingly, Orlando’s most booked experience was the SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium, not Disney. Key West saw the majority of its bookings go towards a Sunset Sail with Full Bar, Live Music & Hors D’oeuvres, while Miami Beach had the majority of its bookings go to the City Half Day Tour of Miami by Bus with Sightseeing Cruise. 

Globally, Americans are the biggest summer trip splurgers, with the average traveler planning to dish out 9 percent more than the average traveler around the world.

Beach destinations remain king and it seems like Florida has all the momentum it needs going into the summer season.

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