Hotwire.com announced Aug. 14 the top 10 most popular destinations that travelers are visiting this Labor Day weekend. This year, many are opting to travel to off-season destinations where they can get more for their money, but top leisure markets, like New York City and Boston, still reign supreme, according to the report.

Making their way onto the list for the first time are some of the Southeast's biggest and most affordable cities including Orlando, New Orleans and Atlanta. While the popularity of value destinations seems to be on the rise, urban centers with close ties to the holiday including New York, Boston and Chicago maintain their statuses as favorite holiday hotspots.

These value destinations' rise in popularity has knocked Dallas, Toronto and San Diego, which are more expensive, higher-season cities, off the top 10 list completely, and have pushed San Francisco, which has also been expensive this summer, down to No. 10.

However, cities with close ties to the holiday continue to remain popular as well, with New York returning at No. 1 on the list, Chicago — also a value destination — moving from No. 3 to No. 2, and Boston dropping from No. 2 last year to No. 4. These three cities have some of the oldest Labor Day celebrations in the country.

The 10 most popular Labor Day weekend destinations by bookings and average nightly hotel prices for each are listed below:

CityAvg. Hotel Price on Hotwire
1. New York City, New York         $185
2. Chicago, Illinois                        $102
3. Las Vegas, Nevada                    $95
4. Boston, Massachusetts               $127
5. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada   $103
6. Orlando, Florida                                   $56
7. New Orleans, Louisiana        $96
8. Atlanta, Georgia                     $76
9. Washington, D.C.                    $87
10. San Francisco, California      $136


"With the economy still in flux, it's no surprise more travelers are being price conscious this year, opting to spend Labor Day in destinations that offer greater values. This price-conscious shift has moved more expensive cities lower in ranking or off the list completely, but it has not knocked the more traditional markets from the top spots," said Clem Bason, president of the Hotwire group.

The 10 most popular Labor Day weekend destinations and average prices are based on hotel bookings made on Hotwire.com between June 15 and July 31, 2012 for travel between Aug. 30 and Sept. 4, 2012.

0 Comments