PHOTO: Downtown Orlando at night. (Courtesy of www.thinkstock.com)

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) today announced Orlando and Las Vegas as the top two most popular summer destinations booked by ASTA travel agents domestically, according to the 2014 Hot Spots for Summer survey. Orlando came out on top with a 17 percent share of responses and Las Vegas maintained the second spot with 14 percent.

“Orlando and Las Vegas remain on top as affordable, family-friendly and fun destinations," said Zane Kerby, ASTA President and CEO. "They are also the type of destinations where a travel agent can enhance your trip from helping navigate Orlando’s theme parks, to making sure you pick the right Vegas hotel that matches your unique needs."

Following Orlando and Las Vegas, the other top ten domestic cities are Miami (4 percent), San Francisco (4 percent), Los Angeles (3 percent), New York City (2 percent), San Diego (2 percent), Honolulu (2 percent), Washington DC (2 percent) and New Orleans (2 percent).  New Orleans is new to the list, moving Seattle out of the top ten.

While remaining at the top, Orlando and Las Vegas have been slowly decreasing in response share for several years, as have most of the other top ten destinations. Ten years ago the top ten destinations represented 75% of the responses, and today it represents 51 percent. This year, over 100 different domestic destinations received at least one vote as a hot summer destination, reflecting the consumer trend for more unique vacation experiences. 

When asked about 2014 state destinations, Florida again topped the list for the 2014 summer season with a 23 percent response rate. Rounding out the top five state destinations for summer travel are Nevada (13 percent), California (12 percent), New York (11 percent) and Hawaii (11 percent). As with the cities, the percentage share of responses is down for the top states, except for Hawaii which had modest growth in response share.

Travelers who would like to experience these hot spots can find a helpful travel agent on the “Find a Travel Agent” directory on TravelSense.org, where tourists can search for a travel agent who specializes in the destinations that they dream of visiting.

Survey data was collected through the 2014 ASTA Research Family in February 2014. This survey has a 95 percent rate confidence with an error rate +/-4 percent. A copy of the results can be found on the research page of ASTA.org.