Travel Search Trends Vary by State, Research Shows

by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:00 PM ET, Tue September 28, 2021

While some travel trends, like road-tripping or wellness travel, are growing rapidly throughout the country, some states seem to focus on different trends, and that includes what they search for when they consider booking travel.

A new report published by KAYAK has analyzed data from millions of searches and found that some state's search trends vary greatly from their neighbors.

For instance, Alaskans took first place in terms of the number of searches for long-term stays, while Texans had the least amount, with only three percent of searches fitting into the long-term trip category.

California has been named the In-State Explorer state for having the highest amount of searches for in-state car rentals at 37 percent, while Kentucky was named the Out-of-State Explorer for having the least amount of searches for in-state car rentals.

Residents of Florida took first place for the most searches for staycations within their own state, at 70 percent, while West Virginia had the least amount of desire for staycations at only 11 percent.

Louisiana won the Ready to Travel category, with desire to travel growing 30 percent from 2019, while Maryland's residents actually lost their desire to travel, with searches dropping 15 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

Mississippi's residents are the most interested in saving money, with interest in vacation packages increasing 54 percent from pre-pandemic levels. Conversely, Maine's interest in vacation packages decreased 30 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

The state with the highest desire for early morning flights was Montana, at only three percent. The state most likely to sleep in on the day of travel is Ohio, with only .3 percent looking for early morning flights.

Nevada took first place for last-minute vacations, with 36 percent of searches considered last minute, while Vermont's residents prefer to plan ahead, with only 23 percent of searches considered last minute.

New York took the first place spot in the business travel category, with the highest number of residents signing up for KAYAK for Business, whereas South Dakota took last place.

Rhode Island took first place among searches for first class and business class airfare, at four percent, while Nebraska had the least amount of searches for these flight categories at only one percent.

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