Where Everyone Else is Headed – The Most Popular Countries
October 3rd, 2005 Posted in General, Travel industryIf you want to find a good deal on travel, the first thing to do is avoid going where everyone else is going. Sounds pretty simple, but not an easy thing for most people. Truth be told, more than a few people pick their vacation spot based on what other people will think, or who has done the best job marketing to them, or both.
Case in point, this “10 Most Popular Countries” list just published in Travel and Leisure. This is for Americans. Figure a European one would probably have to substitute Spain, southern Turkey, the Canary Islands, and other package tour hot spots.
1. Mexico (19.3 million visitors)
2. Canada (15 million)
3. U.K. (3.69 million)
4. France (2.41 million)
5. Italy (1.92 million)
6. China (1.81 million)
7. Germany (1.75 million)
8. Jamaica (1.26 million)
9. Japan (1.07 million)
10. Bahamas (1.01 million)
Let’s assume visits to China (which had the biggest increase) and Japan are bumped up by business travelers. Lots of Canada and Mexico travel is residents crossing borders. Nevertheless, HO-HUM! Even with the Euro at a record high last year, people flocked like sheep to England, France, and Germany. Amazing that the islands of Jamaica and the Bahamas together get 2.27 million Americans coming: that’s almost one in every hundred U.S. citizens! You can bet 99% of that business is going to large corporate hotels, especially all-inclusives.
But if nothing else, can we stop whining that not enough Americans go abroad? There were 61.8 million Americans journeying out of the country last year, which is no small amount of people. It’s greater than the whole population of the United Kingdom. Greater than the populations of Australia, New Zealand, and Spain added together. Considering how much our own landscape has to offer, that looks quite substantial to me.
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