Can't afford Hawaii? Come to Chicago

More tourists are blowing into the Windy City this fall.


Chicago comes in just below Hawaii, ranking as the sixth most-booked travel destination for the rest of year, according to the 2009 Travel Leaders Fall Travel Trends Survey. That’s a four-spot jump from last year’s survey.

Chicago and Washington D.C. are among the hottest business and vacation spots. In the past two years, Chicago has moved up seven spots to #6 and Washington D.C. gained eight spots to land at #7.


This year’s survey of 452 Travel Leaders (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates) from across the nation measured trends for both leisure and business travel. Overall bookings are down year over year, Travel Leaders says the outlook is better than a year ago. The survey, conducted August 4-August 28, 2009, includes information from 452 Travel Leaders agents, managers and owners.



“It could be that we’re seeing the light at the end of this long dark economic tunnel as more Travel Leaders are expressing optimism on their business outlook than just one year ago,” noted Roger E. Block, CTC, President of Travel Leaders Franchise Group, on the year over year increase to 59.5% from 51.1%. “While overall bookings are down year over year, recent analyses by Piper Jaffray and Citibank suggest the travel industry as a whole may have bottomed out.”


The 7th annual Fall Travel Trends Survey conducted by Travel Leaders reveals that it is hard, if not nearly impossible, to de-throne the wildly popular domestic and international travel options offered by Las Vegas and Caribbean Cruising even in a tough economic year. With the exchange rate more favorable than at this time in 2008, London has seen a resurgence in its popularity among international destinations while Chicago and Washington D.C. continue to move up in the rankings domestic destinations.

Here’s a look at the top ten domestic and international destinations for the remainder of 2009 based on actual bookings:

Top 10 Domestic Destinations for fall
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Orlando, FL
3. New York City, NY
4. Honolulu, HI
5. Kahului (Maui), HI
6. Chicago, IL
7. Washington, DC
8. San Francisco, CA
10. Miami/Miami Beach, FL

Top 10 International Destinations fall
1. CRUISE- Caribbean
2. Cancun, Mexico
3. Riviera Maya, Mexico
4. CRUISE- Europe (Mediterranean)
5. Rome, Italy
6. London, England
8. Montego Bay, Jamaica
7. CRUISE- Mexico
9. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
10. Playa del Carmen, Mexico

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