According to a survey of European travellers, the US is the destination people most want to visit in 2022, along with the Maldives, Canada, Thailand and Japan. Jenny Southan reports
New consumer insight from travel deals platform HolidayPirates has revealed how long-haul destinations are dominating European traveller wish-lists for 2022.
In a survey of 8,457 people from the UK, France, Germany and Italy, the US was unanimously voted the detination they’d most like to visit in 2022, indicating huge pent-up demand after almost two years of closure to overseas tourists.
For people from the UK, the Maldives was in second place and Australia, which continues to be largely off-limits, in third. Meanwhile, travellers in France most want to head to Canada and Thailand (in addition to the US), while Germans rank Thailand and Italy in second and third place. For Italians, Japan and the Maldives are in their top three.
With different Covid-19 restrictions across the world, the HolidayPirates data also found that 37% per cent of Brits went without any type of holiday at all in 2021.
In comparison, 85 per cent of French respondents took a domestic, international or both types of holiday this year.
Italians were most likely to go on holiday on home turf, with 53 per cent claiming to have taken a domestic holiday this year.
Phil Salcedo, head of market for UK and North America at HolidayPirates, said: “Long-haul destinations have simply been off the cards this year. Brits, in particular, have had a tougher time than most when it came to planning a sunny getaway. When we’ve been so confined for so long, It’s no surprise that we are desperate to get to destinations with radically different culture, climate and landscape.
“The diversity and culturally iconic status of the US seemed a world away from our lives in our living rooms and over the past two years, and many of us have taken the virtual journeys from Carrie Bradshaw’s New York to the raw nature of Badlands National Park in Nomadland and the Californian desert resort of Palm Springs. Now we want to see it for ourselves.”
Jackie Ennis, vice-president of global markets for Brand USA, said: “It’s great to see that the US remains the number-one bucket list destination across the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
“From our gateway cities to the great outdoors, we are immensely proud of the array of diverse experiences travellers can enjoy across the country. With US borders now reopened to international tourists, we are looking forward to welcoming our friends from all over the world in 2022.”