Google Flights reveals trendy 2024 winter holiday destinations for US travellers

Google has released data showing the most popular Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve destinations, according to US Google Flights search data, as well as revealing the cheapest times to book.

Best times to book

Early October is the best time to find a bargain Thanksgiving fare, according to James Byers, group product manager, search at Google, speaking to Fox News Digital, while late October is best for domestic air fares for Christmas travel. Some people may also be unaware that using the search term “cheapest time to book” in Google Flights, will give similar insights, he said.

Meanwhile, the preferred destinations for Thanksgiving trips in 2024 are shaping up to be mainly in the US, with 10 out of the top 20 searched-for destinations for trips between 24 November and 1 December on US soil.

Orlando proves popular

The favourite is Orlando, which also takes the number two spot for Christmas and New Year vacations, beaten only by Tokyo, Japan. The central Florida city’s reputation as a provider of year round warm temperatures and family fun at its Disney and Universal Studios theme parks are no doubt huge drivers of its winter season tourism.

In second place for Thanksgiving and third for Christmas and New Year comes Cancún, Mexico but a rejection of sun-seeking sees New York take third spot for Thanksgiving, as well as fifth for Christmas and New Year. With iconic architecture to see and seasonal associations including ice skating in front of the Rockefeller Center or in Central Park, as well as snowy horsedrawn carriage rides à la Sex in the City, New York is on many people’s winter wishlist.

The US inspires more searches than anywhere else

Four other American destinations feature in the top 10 for Thanksgiving: Miami (6), Los Angeles (8), Las Vegas (9) and Honolulu (10).

Although slightly fewer American cities appear in the Christmas and New Year list, only eight as opposed to ten, the US still inspires more destination searches for that time of year than any other country.

Japan, India and Mexico do well

However, Tokyo, as said above, has managed to take the number one spot for Christmas and New Year, in another sign of the massive growth of Japan as a tourist honeypot. 

India provides two destinations in the list for Thanksgiving, with Mumbai (11) just missing out on a top 10 place and Delhi featuring at 14. On the Christmas and New Year list, Mexico is the only other nation to boast more than one city: with the aforementioned Cancún (3) and Mexico City (17).