Las Vegas is most popular U.S. destination
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Las Vegas remained America's playground in 2009, according to data released December 15 by Orbitz.com.
Las Vegas hotels were the second cheapest of the Top Ten destinations in the U.S. for 2009, helping to drive the area to first place with average daily rates of only $84. This represents a 26% drop from last year's average nightly rate of $115. Only Orlando, Florida hotels were cheaper, at $81. Over key holiday weekends such as Thanksgiving, Presidents Weekend and Memorial Day, the average price of a night in Vegas' hotels was $94. New York and Chicago were the second and third top destinations with rates of $185 and $113 respectively. The figures are based on bookings for January 1 to December 31 2009.
The data also suggests that Americans visited Central America more than Europe over the past year - three of the top ten international destinations were in Mexico and Cancun took first place with an average nightly rate of $179, down 12% from 2008. London and Paris were the only European destinations in the list taking second and ninth place respectively. According to Orbitz, both destinations saw average daily hotel rates drop by over 15%. Canadian destinations were popular, with Toronto and Vancouver both appearing on the list, as were the Caribbean destinations of Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
Orbitz, one of the largest online booking sites in the world, predicts that Las Vegas will continue to be a popular destination through 2010 as the resort will boast more hotel rooms than ever before. Recent data released by similar travel companies such as Tripadvisor and British Airways appears to back this up, with both firms suggesting that the strip will remain a crowd-puller.
Top 2009 U.S. destinations
Data from Orbitz.com
1 Las Vegas, NV
2 New York, NY
3 Chicago, IL
4 Orlando, FL
5 Los Angeles, CA
6 Washington, DC
7 San Francisco, CA
8 San Diego, CA
9 Boston, MA
10 Miami, FL
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments