Thinking about taking a vacation? Alaska cruises jumped to the top spot from last year’s fifth place to become the most booked domestic vacation for 2018, according to findings from travel agency Travel Leaders Group’s authoritative 2018 Travel Trends Survey.
Orlando was bumped down a notch to second place. Las Vegas, Maui and New York City rounded out the Top 5.
Internationally, Caribbean cruises and Cancun, Mexico, respectively, maintained the top two spots, while European river cruises edged up one place to third.
Mediterranean cruises and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Top “up and coming” destinations include Iceland, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam and Croatia.
Additionally, of the respondents who book travel to the Caribbean, 45.6 percent said their 2018 bookings to the Caribbean are about even with last year, while 13.3 percent said their bookings to the Caribbean are higher.
When it comes to Caribbean cruises, 71.7 percent said these bookings are either higher than or equal to last year’s bookings.
Alaska cruises have been among the top 10 domestic trips booked by Travel Leaders Group travel advisors over the last several years, but this is the first year Alaska cruises have reached the number one spot in the annual Travel Trends Survey.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, 1,089,700 passengers cruised in Alaska in 2017 and that number is projected to grow another seven percent to 1,165,500 passengers in 2018.
What do you think? Are you in for an Alaska cruise? Or is a sunny beach more of your thing? Let us know!