March 8th, 2024, Clifton Mark
Hawaii is the most popular domestic vacation destination among Americans. Unsurprisingly, over a third (35%) would consider visiting the Aloha state sometime in the next few years. Las Vegas, Nevada is the second most popular destination, followed by NYC.
YouGov’s recent Destination Rankings 2024 white paper connects custom research to data from YouGov Profiles to find out where American travelers want to go next.
While the general population figures are telling, there are differences between demographic groups. American men are more likely than women to consider a visit to Las Vegas (32.5% vs 27.2%), LA (23.4% vs 19.1%) and Miami (32.5% vs. 27.2%). Women are more likely to choose Hawaii (37.2% vs. 32.7%), Charleston (20.8% vs. 16.6%) and Sedona (19.6% vs. 16.5%).
The generations are also planning to vacation in different places. Hawaii is the top destination for all generations except for Gen Z, for whom it doesn’t even make the top five. Americans born after 2000 are most likely to consider vacationing in NYC. They are also 51% more likely than the general population to choose LA as a destination.
On the other hand, Baby Boomers are most likely to consider Hawaii (29.5% ) and Key West (22.6%), with the Big Apple their sixth favorite destination. Baby Boomers are 36% more likely to choose Sedona and 35% more likely to choose Key West than the general population.
Digging deeper with YouGov Profiles, an audience segmentation tool, gives us insights into the traveler preferences of niche audiences. For example, while 22.9% of all Americans would consider taking a vacation in Nashville, that rises to 33.9% among country music fans, meaning that country fans are 78.6% more likely to visit Nashville than the average American. That’s not the surprising part; garden hobbyists are also 58.9% more likely than the general population to choose Nashville as a potential vacation destination.
YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. This study was conducted online in December 2023, with a nationally representative sample of 500 adults (aged 18+ years) in the US, using a questionnaire designed by YouGov. Data figures have been weighted by age, race, gender, education, and region to be representative of all adults in the US (18 years or older), and reflect the latest population estimates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.
This survey asked about 21 domestic travel locations selected by AI: Austin, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Hawaii (various islands); Houston, TX; Las Vegas, Nevada; Los Angeles, California; Key West, Florida; Miami, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; New York City, New York; Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; San Diego, California; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Sedona, Arizona; Washington, D.C.