Each State’s Top Travel Destination for Summer 2023

After spending the better part of two years cooped up at home, many Americans are itching to get back out in the world and start traveling. The season of booking flights is upon us.

The summer of 2022 is one of the first opportunities that many of us have had to take a real vacation in a long time. People want to make the most of it and pick the best destination in the world. So, where is everyone planning on going?

We decided to find out.

Using some research and the help of Google Trends, we figured out every state’s top travel destination for summer 2022.

Other Interesting Finds

• Mexico was by far the most popular travel destination for Americans in 2022. Every single state had at least some search interest in Mexico as a vacation destination. New Mexico, Alaska, Idaho, and Wyoming showed the most interest in traveling to Mexico this summer.

• Canada was a pretty popular destination search for Americans in 2022. Connecticut, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania all showed high interest in getting away to Canada.

• Both North and South Dakota had the most interest in the Bahamas as a vacation destination.

• Californians, Texans, and Virginians plan to spend their PTO on vacation in Germany.

• People from across the United States were interested in a trip to Italy – from Kentucky and South Carolina in the south to Illinois, New York, and Minnesota in the North.

• Maine, New Jersey, and North Dakota are opting to spend their summer of 2022 in the sun at the beaches of the Bahamas.

• The states showing the most curiosity in going across the pond to the United Kingdom (UK) this summer are Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Washington.

How We Figured This Out

To sort out every state’s top vacation spot choices for the summer of 2022, we started by rounding up a list of the top 10 most popular travel destinations for Americans. There were a number of promising contenders to put on the list. We narrowed it down based on the number of visitors each destination had, the usable search interest on Google, and how popular the place was right now in 2022.

After a bit of research, we landed on these countries as the top 10 most popular travel destinations for Americans in 2022:

Top 10 Most Popular Travel Destinations for Americans in 2022

1. Mexico

2. Canada

3. United Kingdom (UK)

4. Jamaica

5. Italy

6. The Bahamas

7. Dominican Republic

8. Aruba

9. Spain

10. Germany

Equipped with a list of America’s favorite holiday destinations, we headed over to Google Trends to see what states were the most interested in each location. We would give Google Trends a location search term, and it would tell us what states were showing the most interest in that term with the most up-to-date data.

To make sure that we were getting the most accurate information, we included the word “vacation” in the search term. Like, Italy Vacation or Aruba Vacation. That way, Google Trends was only showing us the states that were interested in visiting these places soon.

So, when we input “Spain Vacation” as a search term, Google Trends showed us that Arizona, Colorado, and Wisconsin were showing abnormally high interest in these places. Suggesting that people from these states intend on visiting in the near future.

Every State’s Top Travel Destination for Summer 2022

1. Alabama: Dominican Republic

2. Alaska: Mexico

3. Arizona: Spain

4. Arkansas: Jamaica

5. California: Germany

6. Colorado: Spain

7. Connecticut: Canada

8. Delaware: Jamaica

9. Florida: Canada

10. Georgia: Aruba

11. Hawaii: Mexico

12. Idaho: Mexico

13. Illinois: Italy

14. Indiana: Aruba

15. Iowa: Dominican Republic

16. Kansas: Jamaica

17. Kentucky: Italy

18. Louisiana: Dominican Republic

19. Maine: The Bahamas

20. Maryland: Jamaica

21. Massachusetts: United Kingdom (UK)

22. Michigan: Aruba

23. Minnesota: Italy

24. Mississippi: Jamaica

25. Missouri: Dominican Republic

26. Montana: Mexico

27. Nebraska: The Bahamas

28. Nevada: Canada

29. New Hampshire: Jamaica

30. New Jersey: The Bahamas

31. New Mexico: Mexico

32. New York: Italy

33. North Carolina: United Kingdom (UK)

34. North Dakota: The Bahamas

35. Ohio: Germany

36. Oklahoma: Mexico

37. Oregon: Mexico

38. Pennsylvania: Canada

39. Rhode Island: Aruba

40. South Carolina: Italy

41. South Dakota: The Bahamas

42. Tennessee: Canada

43. Texas: Germany

44. Utah: The Bahamas

45. Vermont: The Bahamas

46. Virginia: Germany

47. Washington: United Kingdom (UK)

48. West Virginia: Mexico

49. Wisconsin: Spain

50. Wyoming: Mexico

Author

Sky Ariella

Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.