Orlando Dethrones Las Vegas: Travel Leaders' 2010 Travel Trends Survey Orlando Dethrones Las Vegas

Today, Travel Leaders unveiled the 2010 results of their authoritative annual Travel Trends Survey. After years of being the “bridesmaid” in this nationwide survey of travel experts, Orlando bested Las Vegas as the top domestic destination being booked, while Caribbean cruising retained its strong foothold atop Travel Leaders’ international destinations list. Conducted November 30-December 18, 2009, the 2010 Travel Trends Survey includes responses from 521 Travel Leaders owners, managers and frontline travel experts throughout the United States.
“Orlando landing at number one shows the remarkable resiliency strength in family-oriented destinations, while Las Vegas appears to still be suffering unfairly from the intense scrutiny associated with last year’s spate of cancelled conventions,” stated Roger E. Block, CTC, president of Travel Leaders Franchise Group, which includes locations from coast to coast. “Overall bookings are starting to trend higher, optimism is definitely on the rise, and a significant number of leisure travelers are taking advantage of current hotel prices and ‘trading up’ to more luxurious accommodations – which are all good signs as we head into 2010.”
“While there may still be short periods of choppy waters ahead for the travel industry, we are well-positioned to help all travelers, whether they are leisure or business travelers,” added Block. “Travel Leaders has maintained its own ranking as one of the top ten travel companies in the United States. Our dedication to our clients, our professional, highly-trained travel experts and our partnerships with top travel industry suppliers are keys to our success. As U.S. consumers begin returning to their previous travel patterns, we look forward to continually providing the best travel experiences possible.”
Top Destinations: U.S. and International Based on 2010 Bookings:
• Domestically, this is the first time since 2003 (when Travel Leaders regularly started compiling this survey) that Las Vegas has not grabbed the top spot – that distinction goes to Orlando in 2010. Also, Chicago is still gaining in popularity as a domestic destination ranking 7th (which is up from 10th in ’09 and 20th in ’08). Los Angeles spectacularly climbs 7 spots to number 10.
• In its initial entry onto the survey, “Alaska Cruises” jumped to the #3 spot. Another first-time entry, the U.S. Virgin Islands (remember there is no need for a passport to these Caribbean gems), landed at #19 – just one spot back of Anaheim/Orange County, CA.
• Caribbean Cruising remains the top international destination with significant value being offered in virtually every region. In all, four cruise itineraries were included among the Top 20 international destinations: Caribbean (#1), Europe-Mediterranean (#4), Mexico (#11) and the Panama Canal (#19).
• Perhaps as an indicator of an improving economy, Rome, London and Paris all moved up with the latter two rebounding particularly well – Rome is up two spots to #5; London up four spots to #6 and Paris up five spots to #8.
To see the rankings of the top ten domestic and international destinations for 2010, along with full release of Travel Leaders’ 2010 Travel Trends,