As more destinations re-opened and dropped Covid-related regulations like mandatory testing, the travel industry experienced big time in 2022. This week, Google released a list of the top 10 trending destinations on its online flight booking search service Google Flights. The list shows where American travelers want to go this year and beyond. London ranked the top trending destination this year, Google reports.
A representative from Google explained to CNN that “‘trending’ queries are the searches that had a high spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2022 as compared to 2021.”
The top destinations can be related to the process of reopening borders, which makes travel easier, according to CNN.
Europe's comeback
For American travelers, European cities were four of the top 10 destinations searched for by US-based Google Flights users in 2022 — London, Paris, Rome and Lisbon, meaning that the continent had a special appeal for summer travel season this year.
Ho Chi Minh, Mumbai and New Delhi
Due to its slower reopening (compared to European countries) the Asia-Pacific region is set to lose its position as the world’s largest travel region in 2022.
However, Ho Chi Minh City placed high on Google Flights’ trending list. Vietnam reopened to tourism in early 2022, while other traditionally popular countries like Japan and China remained shut.
Also, India’s two big cities, Mumbai and New Delhi, made the US Google Flights list. India reopened its borders in late 2021, and US passport holders can apply for travel visas online.
Canada
Canada dropped the last of its Covid-related travel restrictions on October 1. The decision to lift restrictions made US searches for Canada skyrocket.
Vancouver landed in eighth place on the Google Flights trending list, while Toronto was fifth.
Google's top 10 destinations
Here’s the list of the top 10 trending Google Flights destinations searched for in the US for 2022.
- London, UK
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Paris, France
- New Delhi, India
- Toronto, Canada
- Rome, Italy
- Mumbai, India
- Vancouver, Canada
- Lisbon, Portugal
- New York, NY