Even though Las Vegas still retains dubious for the unemployment and foreclosures rates, sin city can now boast the title of #1 travel destination, according to Travel Leaders Groupthe #1 travel franchise in the country.
Travel Leaders Group directly employs over 1,000 staff members to manage the operations of more than 6,000 company owned, franchised and affiliated travel agencies in the United States and Canada which, they estimate, is approximately 30% of all the agencies in America.
The annual survey includes participation from 871 travel agents and owners from the Travel Leaders Group.
The survey was conducted from July 30 to Aug. 23.
The travel agents were asked to check their top five (5) most booked destinations and locations which are then ranked by the percentage of agents who included them on their surveys.
This year, Las Vegas, NV was No. 1, with 44.7 percent of the agents including it in their top five.
The other destinations comprising the top five are Maui, Hawaii; Orlando, Fla.; New York; and Honolulu.
Here’s the ranking for this years top 10 destinations;
1 Las Vegas, NV
2 Maui, HI
3 Orlando, FL
4 New York City, NY
5 Honolulu, HI
6 San Francisco, CA
7 Washington, DC
8 Chicago, IL
9 Los Angeles, CA
10 Fort Lauderdale, FL
One surprising destination that did not make the top 10 this year is the Phoenix/Scottsdale which is thought to be a hugely popular destination.
Only weeks ago, another survey came out listing the top convention locations and Las Vegas slid to the third spot for conventions.
Las Vegas, NV and Orlando, FL always seem to be locked in a forever battle for the top spot and this year that honor clearly goes to Las Vegas.
Part of the reason might be the low hotel rates and travel deals that have been available since Las Vegas has been in throes of an economic downturn although being named the #1 Travel Destination can certainly indicate that things are looking up.
Another very positive trend noted was that 80.9% of Travel Leaders Group travel agents indicate year-to-date bookings are the same or better than at this time in 2011.
Definitely some much needed good news for Las Vegas.