The holiday season is upon us which means travel is in the cards for many of us. While online travel agencies are releasing their data on the present, FlightHub is looking ahead to 2016 to preview what the year 2016 has in store when it comes to online travel destinations.
While holiday snapshots provide a glimpse into what people are doing for fun, a yearly snapshot takes all kinds of travel into account says FlightHub CEO Matt Keezer saying “FlightHub reviews its projections all the time so we can plan promotions,” adding “these numbers help us lay out a roadmap for our social and CRM campaigns going forward so we can maximize sales and inquiries during the coming year.”
Looking ahead at future numbers can often tell the tale of the previous years events. For example, factors such as the ongoing migrant crisis and public safety situation in Europe is anticipated to cool down travel to Europe in 2016 says Keezer adding “planning a vacation can be a major logistical effort, so altering plans last minute due to safety concerns or currency fluctuations is rare because there is no guarantee you can affordably cancel or modify plans last minute,” adding “alternatively, those who have vacation plans booked far in advance or simply conceptualized have an opportunity to second guess based on current events.”
As of right now, the top ten locations for 2016 according to FlightHub are shaking out like this:
1 – London, UK
2 – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
3 – Manila, Philipines
4 – Bangkok, Thailand
5 – Paris, France
6 – Keflavik, Iceland
7 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
8 – Tokyo, Japan
9 – Dublin, Ireland
10 – Orlando, Florida, US
The big takeaway is a lack of United States destinations. This can be attributed to FlightHub’s audience, which is primarily Canadian. The weakening Canadian dollar has stagnated Canadian travel to the United States due to the costs becoming less affordable for Canadian travelers. In terms of surprises, seeing Iceland and Ireland represented means perhaps tourists are looking for non-U.S. destinations that are less effected by the migrant and public safety situation in mainland Europe. With that being said, London and Paris are still well represented on this list, which loses due to the aforementioned situations could be made up from people who would traditionally go to the United States choosing Europe instead.
FlightHub is a Canadian online travel agency that has served over one million Canadians annually Since 2012.
