Bahamas Ranked the Most Popular Caribbean Destination for U.S. Sunbathers in 2015

Estimates by the U.S. Office of Travel & Tourism Industries indicate that visits to the Caribbean from the U.S. rose 9.6 percent through November 2014 and are on track to set a new all-time record. A new study by Resonance Consultancy Ltd. confirms that the Caribbean is one of the most popular international destinations for U.S. travelers.

American international travel has been on the rise since hitting a recession-induced nadir of 59.2 million travelers in 2011. While the number of Americans traveling overseas has been relatively stagnant over the past decade, U.S. international travel is growing again as the U.S. economy recovers and more Millennials begin to travel abroad. In fact, those are recent estimates by the U.S.

Office of Travel & Tourism Industries for January through November of 2014 show that international outbound travel from the U.S. jumped 9.8 percent over the same period year prior, putting the country on track to surpass 65 million international travelers and set a new all-time record for international travel.

Visits to the Caribbean were up 9.6 percent through November of 2014, and a recent study by Resonance Consultancy indicates that 46 percent of U.S. International Travelers are planning on vacationing in the Caribbean in the next 12-24 months.

The online survey was conducted by Resonance Consultancy in November 2014 with 1,256 recent U.S. international travelers 18 years or older with household incomes of $50,000 or more.

When it comes to the types of vacations U.S. International Travelers are interested in, Millennials (18-34) and Middle Age travelers (35-64) are most interested in visiting beach resorts and major metropolitan cities while Seniors (65+) are most interested in cruise vacations.

“The most interesting trend when it comes to U.S. international travel is the growing impact of the Millennial generation,” says Resonance Consultancy President Chris Fair. “In fact, they have a particularly strong desire to visit the Caribbean, with 48 percent of recent international Millennial travelers noting that they would like to visit the Caribbean in the next 12-24 months.”

While safety is the #1 criteria for all age groups in choosing a vacation destination, Millennials are much more cost-conscious than older travelers and also the group that considers ‘opportunities to learn something new’ to be very important in choosing a vacation destination.

Source: Travel Daily News