By Lenka Trckova
Dazzling fall foliage, crisp air, and a pile of harvested goodies kick off one of the best times of the year to travel. There are good reasons why millions of travelers visit the US during fall: summer crowds dissipate and the best local experiences in many destinations are ready to shine.
Before leaf-changing season kicks into full swing, check out our fall travel trends that reveal interesting insights into traveler search behavior. Our data* tells us where travelers to the US are coming from and what cities they’re going to and compares their search behavior with those traveling domestically.
Where do visitors to the US come from?
Whether it’s mother nature’s fall foliage display in Upstate New York, summery temperatures in the Golden State, or various festivals across the whole country, the US fall season seduces visitors from across the globe. American residents traveling domestically account for 57% of all US searches, far exceeding the number of travelers from any other country.
Brits make up the biggest group of inbound travelers followed by visitors from Canada, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Argentina, Japan, Mexico, France, and Italy.
What are the most popular destinations this fall?
The following image reveals how the destinations of choice differ between international and domestic travelers.
Across all markets, you can clearly see most destinations of choice are those boasting pleasant weather. American residents traveling domestically especially chase the golden sunlight streams with Florida, Nevada, and California as their top three spots. While warmer places also attract international visitors, the most sought-after destination this fall is New York State with 29% of all inbound searches.
In regards to the city preferences, there’s a variation within the top city rankings between the two groups of travelers. While Las Vegas crowns the list for US residents, New York City overtook Sin City for searches by international visitors. Orlando follows in third place in both rankings.
Traveler preferences differ also at the country level. Whereas visitors from Japan and Australia will most likely take a four-to-six night trip to the closest destinations such as Honolulu, travelers from German, Italy, and Argentina prefer the island city of Miami Beach and will stay on average one day longer.
Wondering how the most popular destinations differ from the summer season? Check out our summer trends 2017 report.
What are travelers willing to pay and how long they will stay?
We know that creating marketing and pricing strategies along with predicting travelers’ behavior can become tricky, especially if there’s no sufficient data to utilize. How long travelers are planning to stay and how much they’re willing to spend on average are two valuable insights every hotelier should consider when determining their competitive prices.
Visitors seeking family-oriented destinations with proximity to various famous amusement parks search for the longest stays. Travelers visiting the amusement park capital of the world are no exception. Domestic and international travelers visiting Orlando pack their bags for five nights and eight nights and pay on average $110 and $107 per night, respectively. Some international travelers opt for more bang their buck, choosing nearby Kissimmee and staying for nine nights on average, with a cheaper average nightly rate of $73. When it comes to nationalities, visitors from Brazil and Argentina are looking for the longest getaway – seven nights on average. On the other hand, Canadian travelers will take the shortest trips of just four nights on average.
What else does this image reveal? International travelers heading to New York City this fall will pay an average room-night-rate of $268, which is 55% above the average of the top 10 destinations. While cities such as San Francisco, Honolulu, and Los Angeles are all well above the average when it comes to how much visitors pay for a hotel room, visitors to Kissimmee are clicking on the lowest price. For a night in Key West,** US vacationers are searching for even higher-priced hotel rooms than they are in New York City.
*data gathered from all trivago.com searches in the US between June 1 – August 2, 2017, for the period of October 1 – November 30, 2017. ** This data was collated before Hurricane Irma struck, and therefore does not reflect any changes to trends in the Florida Keys area. We would like extend our condolences to all those affected, and wish for a fast recovery and return to normality.
