It’s been like a horde of customers bursting through the doors of Walmart on Black Friday.
When the Biden Administration lifted travel restrictions to allow fully vaccinated international visitors into the U.S. on Nov. 8, it unleashed a torrent of pent-up demand.
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That is particularly true for Great Britain.
Residents of the United Kingdom have outnumbered all other European countries combined in the number of travel searches and bookings, according to a story by The Points Guy aviation blog.
And here are the top five U.S. cities that they’re flying to.
Hint: it’s supposed to dip down to 36 degrees tonight in London, so where do you think they’re headed?
ORLANDO, FLA.
Not only is it double the London temperature during the day, but Orlando features the greatest collection of theme parks in the world all within a short drive of each other – Walt Disney World (currently celebrating its 50th anniversary), Universal Orlando, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, LegoLand, to name the biggies.
Of course, nobody is hitting these places all in one trip. Heck, you probably can’t even do Disney properly all in one trip.
Good excuse to come back, though.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
No, it’s not warm right now in the greatest city in the world. But that’s New York. It’s going to attract visitors in any kind of weather.
That’s especially true now that Broadway has reopened. You still have to mask up when attending a show, but good seats are still available to virtually all productions. As of this month, Broadway is at 84 percent capacity since reopening in August (but has pulled in over $125 million during that time).
Even better, there’s something special about the city during the holidays.
MIAMI, FLA.
South Beach. Coconut Grove. Little Havana. Coral Gables. Bal Harbour.
Miami has some of the best neighborhoods and attractions in the world, ranging from bohemian to eclectic to fancy to old money to just about everything you can think of. It also recently won a gold Travvy Award for best U.S. city destination.
It’s also a foodie paradise.
And we hear it has a beach or two.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
It’s L.A. What’s not to love?
OK, the traffic is brutal. But the City of Angels offers everything to everybody. Of course, it has the usual suspect of tourist attractions and sights to see, but it’s a very different big city vibe from, say, New York or Chicago.
In Los Angeles, you can kick back and relax like no other place. So if that floats your boat then chill and relax.
Or, you know, go boating.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.
Mark Twain once wrote that “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”
He wasn’t kidding.
Traditional summer in San Francisco can be fluky at times, but winter is remarkably calm and pleasant. You’ll still need a sweater or windbreaker, but hitting all the sights – Nob Hill, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, even a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge up to wine country is quite enjoyable.
