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Stats: Despite Travel Advisory, Cancun Remains #1 Summer Destination

By Adam Leposa May 18, 2018 9:54am

Despite recent concerns in the consumer media regarding violence and a level 2 State Department travel advisory, Cancun, Mexico, continues to be the top destination for summer travel. That’s from a new report by travel insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance, who analyzed U.S. travelers' impending summer travel plans by examining the number of travelers that went through the online booking process of airfare and package paths for partners offering its products.

While Cancun remains the top spot for summer travel, the survey also noted that San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital, is starting to regain its stride as a popular travel destination after last year's Hurricane Maria, coming in at number eight on the list.

Allianz Global Assistance reviewed customers' trips planned from May 28, 2018 through September 3, 2018 for travel between five to eight days in length, to gather where Americans are looking to spend their summer vacations.

This year's results revealed that Americans looking to travel domestically are planning trips to Orlando (8.80 percent) and New York City (5.51 percent), followed in popularity by Las Vegas (5.36 percent), Los Angeles (4.02 percent), Honolulu (3.12 percent), Miami (3.10 percent), Seattle (3.04 percent), Boston (2.93 percent), Fort Lauderdale (2.92 percent) and San Francisco (2.62 percent).

Apart from London and Paris, most international summer travel destinations are in the Caribbean or Mexico. Cancun, Mexico (15.72 percent) topped the list for the second year in a row, followed by Higüey, Dominican Republic (7.77 percent), Montego Bay, Jamaica (5.78 percent), Nassau, Bahamas (4.31 percent), San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico (4.28 percent), Aruba Island, Aruba (3.99 percent), London, England (3.52 percent), San Juan, Puerto Rico (2.87 percent), Paris, France (2.75 percent) and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (2.53 percent).

"This year's results yielded some interesting findings: New York is a newcomer to the list, revealing that travelers are not only interested in beach destinations this summer," said Daniel Durazo, director of communications for Allianz Global Assistance USA, in a written statement. "And despite recent travel warnings and last year's Hurricane Maria, Americans are still choosing to travel to Cancun and Puerto Rico."

Cancun has suffered a number of security incidents over the past few months, including a shooting on a tourist beach that prompted the destination to tighten security. Additionally, from April 4 – 5, 14 people were killed over the course of 36 hours, with nine killed on April 4 alone, making it the most violent day in Cancun for the past decade. The crimes are thought to be the result of rising drug violence associated with the opioid epidemic in the United States.

Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun as well as other tourist areas Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and the Riviera Maya, remains rated by the State Department as Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution, due to the risk of violent crime like homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery. A Level 2 ranking means that travelers should be “aware of heightened risks to safety and security” within the destination. That puts it in the same overall ranking as other popular tourist destinations for travelers from the United States, including the United Kingdom, France and Italy.

A video highlighting the findings is available to view here:

Source: Allianz Global Assistance