Everyone has their ideal bucket list destination, the ultimate place they want to visit at least once in their life. But which bucket list destination is the most popular?
With global tourism arrivals set to increase 30% in 2023 consumers are eager to travel more and visit new destinations. At InsureMyTrip we found the top cities and cultural wonders residents in each state want to visit.
Most Popular Cities According to Each State
With many Americans preferring domestic travel it’s unsurprising six of the eight most popular cities are within the United States. However, with 1.8 million average monthly searches Barcelona, Spain is the most desired bucket list destination.
The second most popular dream destination is Chicago, with 597k average monthly searches across 17 states. Notably many of the central states want to visit Chicago, while the outer states would prefer to visit Barcelona.
Los Angeles received 106k average searches across five states: Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, and New Mexico. New York received 64k average monthly searches across Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Boston received 30k average monthly searches from across Maine and New Hampshire. San Francisco is the top destination in Oregon. Birmingham, Alabama is a favorite in Mississippi. While Montreal is popular in Vermont.
Most Popular Cultural Wonder According to Each State
There are 10 cultural wonders people in the U.S. want to visit in 2023 (six of them found within the USA) from the Great Wall of China to Hoover Dam. The most popular cultural wonder is the Eiffel Tower in Paris, with 213k average monthly searches across 21 states. Next is the Statue of Liberty in New York, with 166k average monthly searches across 21 states.
Vermont residents want to travel the furthest with Cambodia’s Angkor Wat receiving 590 average monthly searches, along with the Statue of Liberty in New York. The less known World Heritage site Fallingwater in Pennsylvania is a favorite amongst people in West Virginia, perhaps down to the border between West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where the house is located.
There are several states that can’t decide where they would like to visit. With incredible cultural wonders all over the world it’s a hard decision to make.
Our most indecisive states include Idaho, with 1,600 average monthly searches for the Eiffel Tower, Machu Picchu, Peru, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, and Hoover Dam.
For indecisive states, we also have Oklahoma which had 2,900 average monthly searches for the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, and Hoover Dam.
Overall
Overall, people want to visit a range of cultural wonders and cities this year, with Barcelona being the most desired city to visit and the Eiffel Tower the most desired cultural wonder.
Surprisingly, while people in Nevada want to see the Eiffel Tower, they would rather visit Los Angeles. This is true of several states. In Texas they want to see the Statue of Liberty, yet would rather go to Barcelona, which is quite far from New York.
Methodology
Using Google Keyword Planner we recorded search volume for the name of the top 50 cultural wonders and the name of the top 53 most popular cities in each of the 50 States. We then removed any cultural wonders or cities which had the highest volume in the State where they are located.
