Priceline Names California as Americans’ Top Booked Summer Destination

If connecting with Americans this summer is a travel brand’s ambition, it appears one of their best bets lies on the Golden State’s sunny beaches, wineries and backlot movie tours.

California is the most-booked state by Americans this summer based on airfare booking data from Priceline.com which show the state is the most booked U.S. destination for travelers from 26 states. Florida is the second most popular state for bookings with 16 states choosing Florida as the most popular summer getaway. Priceline.com considered tens of thousands of bookings made in April and May 2015 for travel between June 22 and September 21, 2015 to determine the most-booked destinations.

Most of the states of residents choosing California as the top destination are Mid West and Western states, while East Coast states chose Florida as number one. California, however, booked Europe as the most popular vacation (Priceline.com didn’t specify which European destinations) and so did Massachusetts, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. Europe also shows up on several other state’s top five most-booked lists.

About 82% of travel to and within California is done by car and 85% of that number is travel by Californians according to the U.S. Commerce Department. These numbers from Priceline.com, though, show that Americans are apparently keen on flying to the state in addition to taking the iconic Hollywood road trip.

New York State has the third highest number of states choosing it as the top-booked destination with Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina looking for Empire State adventures more so than travelers from other states.