The Top Cities American and International Travelers Booked During the Holidays

Booking data from the holiday season shows it was a battle between Asian and European cities for where travelers decided to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one.

Data from Booking.com and Expedia for November and December reveal what cities received the most bookings on both sites and offer some perspective on what destinations are popular at the start of this year.

New York City was the overall most booked destination on each site for both months, and cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco consistently ranked high for both U.S. and international travelers.

For the top 10 international destinations U.S. travelers booked through Booking.com, Dubai rose from number five for the same period in 2013 to number four in 2014. Hong Kong was number three in 2013 but fell to seven last year, and Tokyo joined the 2014 list after being absent from 2013’s.

On Expedia, for the list of top cities U.S. travelers booked domestic trips to, Miami, Phoenix, and Denver ranked eight, nine, and ten respectively but none of those cities made it on the same list for Booking.com. On the international front, Cancun was the most booked city by U.S. travelers for international destinations, ahead of London and Paris. Expedia provided data only for U.S. traveler bookings made on the site.

However, Expedia provided an overall top 25 rank combining U.S. and international cities that U.S. travelers booked, in which Cancun ranked tenth and New York City first. Only six cities on this particular list are located outside the U.S.

Denver leaped from 16th place in 2013 to 10th place in 2014 on the list of top US destinations booked by U.S. travelers. Bangkok, Paris, and Toronto were the only three cities to increase in rank each year from 2012 to 2014 for the combined top 25 ranking.

Expedia adds the travel dates booked the most were the last two weeks of December, and the dates around Presidents Day and MLK Day are also popular trip dates that were booked. Booking.com did not provide any insight for when its bookings were made for during the November-December booking period.

Booking.com: Top 10 Domestic Cities Booked by U.S. Travelers, November 1-December 18, 2014

Note: Mexico City, Mexico and Toronto, Canada are considered domestic for this data set

Booking.com: Top 10 International Cities Booked by U.S. Travelers, November 1-December 18, 2014

Note: New York City is considered international for this data set

Booking.com: Top 10 International Cities Booked by International Travelers, November 1-December 18, 2014

Source: Booking.com

Expedia: Top 25 U.S./International Cities Booked by U.S. Travelers, November 1-December 18, 2014

Source: Expedia