A new report published by travel insurance comparison site, Squaremouth, has ostensibly identified the top five fastest-growing international destinations among U.S. travelers for the year 2019, based upon travel insurance sales on trips occurring between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019.
In a year-over-year comparison, Egypt has held onto the lead position for the second consecutive year, boasting an 84-percent increase in arrivals over the same period in 2018. TheU.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Portugal, and Panama have managed to usurp the positions of some of last year's top fastest-growing countries, which included Morocco, Tanzania, and Colombia.
Second spot went to the U.S. Virgin Islands, which demonstrated a 44-percent boost in visitors over the past year, followed by Puerto Rico, which reported a 42-percent rise in tourism, just two short years after the devasting impact of Hurricane Maria.
While Portugal's visitor growth had slowed during 2018, the European nation saw a 40-percent increase in international arrivals during 2019 and has reclaimed a place among the top five. Panama, which recorded a 33-percent rise in visitor arrivals, came in fifth in this year's survey.
The report also found that the average trip cost has increased slightly over the past year-an average of two percent for travel to any of the top five destinations. Tourists headed to Egypt saw the highest price increases and shelled out the most money for their trips, at an average cost of $5,145. Whereas, those who went to Panama spent the least amount on average at $3,023.
Generationally speaking, Egypt experienced the most drastic increase in Gen-Z, Baby Boomer and Silent Generation travelers. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Silent Generation led the pack with a 59-percent spike, followed by Baby Boomers, whose arrivals increased by 40 percent.
The amount of Gen-Z, Millennial and Gen-X travelers to Puerto Rico each rose by 51 percent in 2019; while Panamanian tourism received the biggest boost from Millennial visitors, whose numbers have more than doubled compared to the previous year at a rise of 104 percent.
Other noteworthy trends revealed by Squaremouth's data include surprising decreases in tourism to destinations that were previously experiencing rapid growth. Iceland, which had benefitted from rising popular throughout 2017 and 2018, saw a 13-percent decline in visitors this year, perhaps partially due to the shuttering of low-cost carrier WOW Air back in March. Both China and Russia also witnessed a slowing of tourism growth, with numbers since 2018 dropping by around five percent and four percent, respectively.
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