Best Quality U.S. Tourism Destinations 2016

A new study revealed the best quality U.S. tourism destinations and the top performers when it comes to offering the most quality experiences.

The study conducted by travel and tourism experts Resonance Consultancy reveals that New York, Los Angeles, Orange County, Chicago and San Diego produce the most quality experiences overall. Portland Oregon, Maui, Kauai, Oahu and Los Angeles, however, are the top performers when it comes to offering the most quality experiences per 100,000 visitors.

The 2016 U.S. Tourism Quality Index released at DMAI 2016 in Minneapolis on August 1 measures tourism's supply-side performance and competitiveness in 121 cities across the United States. It reveals the top quality large, medium and small U.S. destinations based on the number of very good and excellent experiences in each city in six key areas culture, entertainment, sightseeing, sports & adventure, culinary and lodging as reported in key social media channels such as TripAdvisor and Yelp.

Results of the 2016 U.S. Tourism Quality Index are calculated on both 'overall' and 'indexed' scales: the Overall Ranking measures the total number of quality experiences a destination offers; the Indexed Ranking creates a level playing field for smaller destinations by evaluating performance in terms of how many quality experiences are delivered per visitor (i.e. the number of quality experiences per 100,000 visitors).

While the Overall Rankings favor larger cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago which have more experiences to review they also provide a few surprises : San Diego, Austin, Orange County and Portland, Oregon all rank surprisingly high, given their relatively small size.

TOP 15 OVERALL RANKINGS

1. New York City
2. Los Angeles
3. Orange County
4. Chicago
5. San Diego
6. San Francisco
7. Portland, OR
8. Orlando
9. Seattle
10. Las Vegas
11. Houston
12. Oahu
13. Austin
14. Tampa / St. Petersburg
15. Miami

When it comes to which destinations offer the most quality experiences per visitor, Portland, Oregon tops the rankings, making it the best performing destination in this year's report.

Portland Maine

Following Portland in the Indexed Rankings, Maui, Kaua'i, Oahu and Los Angeles round out the top five.

TOP 15 INDEXED RANKINGS

1. Portland, OR
2. Maui
3. Kaua'i
4. Oahu
5. Los Angeles
6. New York City
7. Orange County
8. Hawai'i (Big Island)
9. Providence
10. Quad Cities
11. El Paso
12. San Diego
13. Seattle
14. San Francisco
15. Chicago