Valentine’s Day travel is up 22 percent over last year, according to Allianz Global Assistance’s latest survey, which found that New York City and Cancun continue to make hearts flutter as the most popular domestic and international destinations for romantic holiday weekend getaways.
Allianz Global Assistance reviewed Americans’ travel plans for roundtrip flights for two passengers for the weekend prior to Valentine’s Day (departing and returning Thursday, February 6 to Monday, February 10, 2020) and from Thursday, February 13 – Monday, February 17, 2020. The Big Apple, romanticized in popular Valentine’s Day movies like Sleepless in Seattle, once again tops the domestic top 10 list and Los Angeles (#2), Seattle (#3), San Francisco (#4), Miami (#5), Chicago (#6), Atlanta (#7), Boston (#8), Phoenix (#9) and Las Vegas (#10) also held on dearly to their rankings from 2019.
For international Valentine’s Day jet-setters, Cancun takes the cake for the sixth consecutive year and overall, Mexico dominates thanks to San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico (#2) and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (#3), which jumped respectively from #3 and #8 in 2019. Sweetening the international list are Richmond, Canada (#4), Toronto, Canada (#5), Mexico City, Mexico (#6), Nassau, Bahamas (#7), Oranjestad, Aruba (#8), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (#9) and Montego Bay, Jamaica (#10).
Allianz’s data indicates Americans are strongly favoring domestic vacations versus international getaways this year, noting international travel is down 19 percent. Multiple factors may be contributing to this trend, Allianz said, from avoiding long lines in customs to unpredictable weather patterns: perennially popular travel destinations in the Caribbean are still feeling the after-effects of earthquakes and hurricanes, including Nassau, Bahamas, which dropped to #7 from #3 last year. The Dominican Republic, which also has had its fair share of negative publicity surrounding travel to the island nation, made its first appearance in the top 10 international list at #9, Allianz noted.
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