As the summer travel crowds fizzle and temperatures mellow out, fall emerges as one of the most ideal—and strategic—times of year to book a dream getaway. This autumn, U.S. travelers seem eager to venture far from home.
“The spike in searches for places like Munich, Ho Chi Minh City, and Barbados point to travelers being excited to pack their bags for places that were previously harder to visit due to travel restrictions, testing requirements, or high airfare prices,” says Christie Hudson, head of U.S. public relations for Expedia. “Now that most Covid-related travel restrictions have loosened, these destinations are back on the table and made even more appealing by factors like the favorable dollar-to-Euro exchange rate and shoulder season deals.”
Here are seven destinations that are seeing surges in interests from travelers this fall—according to data from travel search sites.
Ho Chi Minh is seeing a spike in traveler interest on booking sites like Priceline and Kayak.
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Ho Chi Minh City
Asia has also seen a spike in interest this fall as more countries have opened their borders—Priceline has seen four times more searches for flights to the continent this fall. According to metasearch site Kayak, Vietnam’s biggest city has seen a 46 percent increase in search compared to 2019, while Expedia reported a 630 percent growth in searches from last fall.
“Vietnam reopened its borders to foreign travelers on March 15 with immediate excitement,” Hudson says. “Ho Chi Minh City is very affordable for the fall months, so your travel dollars go a long way.” She noted that she found five-star hotels in September and October starting at around $50 a night.
Generally warm year-round, fall marks the end of the rainy season as temperatures cool, making it a good time to visit the city’s landmarks like the Cu Chi Tunnels, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Ben Thanh Market.
London
Major European cities saw some of the biggest increases across all the search engines, with the British capital notching 290 percent growth since last year, and was one of the most searched cities on Booking.com and Priceline.
