SAN FRANCISCO - With the New Year upon us, Hotwire.com, a leading discount travel site, unveiled its first-ever State of Travel Report highlighting American traveler intentions for 2014, which includes additional results from its third annual American Travel Behavior Survey. The survey, conducted online in October 2013 on behalf of Hotwire by Harris Interactive among over 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, revealed interesting facts about how different age groups intend to travel, and pinpointed 14 destinations for 2014 where people would most like to get away. To help travelers' "intentions" become reality, the experts at Hotwire have highlighted the best months to get a peak season experience at a fraction of the cost in each of the fourteen most sought-after cities.
"Along with exercising or eating right, traveling more is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. But we're interested in how people plan to travel and exactly where they'd like to go," said Henrik Kjellberg, president of the Hotwire Group. "Armed with this information, we can offer up expert advice to help make these travel resolutions a reality, regardless of how much time or budget each traveler has."
Findings on how American adults intend to travel in 2014 include:
One third (36 percent) of American adults indicated that they intend to take several short trips in 2014.
Twenty-nine percent of adults intend to take one or two large vacations.
Younger adults (vs. older adults) are more likely to indicate that they will:
- Take one or two large vacations (34% of those ages 18-34 vs. 26% of those ages 45+).
- Travel more (28% of those ages 18-34 vs. 16% of those ages 45+).
- Be more spontaneous (17% of those ages 18-34 and 15% of those ages 45-54 vs. 9% of those ages 55+).
The 14 most sought-after travel destinations in 2014 from the American Travel Behavior Survey are below. The experts at Hotwire have also accompanied each destination with insight on the best months for great travel experiences at shoulder season prices.
| Destination | Best Month to Visit | Average Price Per Night | Percent Savings vs. Peak Season |
| 1. Las Vegas, NV | June | $84 | 6% |
| 2. Honolulu, HI | September | $127 | 16% |
| 3. New York City, NY | December | $181 | 21% |
| 4. San Francisco, CA | April | $134 | 22% |
| 5. Orlando, FL | January | $59 | 13% |
| 6. Washington, D.C. | September | $90 | 8% |
| 7. Miami, FL | May | $108 | 34% |
| 8. Los Angeles, CA | February | $98 | 13% |
| 9. New Orleans, LA | November | $100 | 21% |
| 10. San Diego, CA | March | $83 | 30% |
| 11. Chicago, IL | October | $86 | 14% |
| 12. Boston, MA | May | $129 | 13% |
| 13. Anchorage, AK | September | $82 | 44% |
| 14. Seattle, WA | April | $91 | 27% |
The above list of 14 destinations was determined by Hotwire's American Travel Behavior Survey. Respondents were asked if they could take one more vacation than you originally planned for 2014, which U.S. cities they would travel to. The Best Month to Visit, Average Price Per Night and Percent Savings were calculated by comparing Hotwire Hot Rate average hotel prices, across all star rating categories for stays between 1/1-12/31/2013 for each month in each respective city.
