Florida Revealed to be a Top Long-Haul Summer Travel Destination

Image: Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. (Photo via Sean Pavone / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Image: Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. (Photo via Sean Pavone / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Laurie Baratti
by Laurie Baratti
Last updated: 6:41 PM ET, Tue July 9, 2019

Booking data reported and analyzed by worldwide luxury-holiday specialist Kenwood Travel shows that Florida is this year's most popular long-haul summer destination, demonstrating a rise in sales of seventeen percent over 2018, as reported by TravelDailyNews.

Similar research revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently the world's second most sought-after summer travel spot, with bookings to the capital city of Abu Dhabi, in particular, up 83 percent year-over-year.

Thailand claims the title of third most in-demand destination among long-haul hotspots this season, with the tropical islands of the Maldives following in fourth.

This summer's most popular long-haul destinations:

- Florida

- UAE

- Thailand

- Maldives

- Barbados

- Mauritius

- Mexico

- Dominican Republic

- St. Lucia

- Antigua

The U.S. and UAE are likewise leading the pack in terms of 2019's prevailing summer city-break spots, with UAE cities claiming the top two slots.

Most popular long-haul city break destinations this summer:

- Dubai

- Abu Dhabi

- Las Vegas

- New York

- Miami

Despite anxiety surrounding Brexit, European destinations are proving to be the fastest-growing in terms of tourism, according to Kenwood's data. Holidaymakers are busy booking luxury vacations on the Continent, in such areas as Cyprus, Italy and Portugal. Kenwood's numbers demonstrate that sales to Cyprus have nearly doubled in comparison to the same period in 2018 (up 94 percent), with Italy and Portugal seeing a rise of 93 percent and 68 percent, respectively. Other noteworthy numbers that marked year-over-year increases in luxury long-haul bookings were 25 percent to Vietnam, 24 percent to Malaysia and 18 percent to the U.S.

Of the firm's primarily British clientele, Alex Stuart, Head of Sales at Kenwood Travel, commented, "Our booking data shows a growing appetite amongst British holidaymakers for luxury holidays, not only in long-haul destinations such as Florida, the UAE and Thailand, but also those closer to home. Whilst many suggested British holidaymakers would delay or even postpone their holidays this year due to Brexit, our booking data shows that in fact, Brits are still determined to enjoy their summer holiday on foreign shores this year."


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Laurie Baratti

Laurie Baratti

Assistant Editor

Laurie Baratti is an Assistant Editor for TravelPulse. She is a San Diego-based journalist whose work has previously appeared in publications like TravelAge West, SPACE, Modern Home + Living, Montage, and Sandals Life magazines. Travel writing has long been her passion, and she is always looking for excuses to explore the world outside of her native California. Laurie is also a lifelong equestrian, a proud pet-parent, and an underground advocate of the Oxford comma.

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