CHICAGO, Feb. 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Last minute Valentine's Day shoppers can score the most points by presenting plans for a travel getaway later this spring rather than reach for the standard bag of tricks like candy, flowers, lingerie or even worse, a gift card, according to the Orbitz Insider Index. While a couple's getaway ranks as the number one gift this Valentine's Day – nearly 70 percent of respondents have never received a trip from their sweetheart.
"We see wrapping up a gift of travel as a double-dip strategy," said Jeanenne Tornatore, senior editor for Orbitz. "You score points now for making the plans, and you score points again later when you take the trip. Taking the time to plan a romantic trip is really the gift that keeps on giving."
Tornatore said that results from the Orbitz Insider Index survey are a road map for travelers looking to plan a romantic getaway, identifying the sexiest cities of 2014 in the U.S. and abroad. For the second consecutive year, Las Vegas ranks number one on Orbitz annual list of sexiest cities with Miami coming in at a close second. The French get it right yet again with Paris being the top pick as the sexiest city in the world.
Orbitz wants to know what sexy cities travelers are visiting this Valentine's Day weekend. Tweet @Orbitz using #sexycity.
| Orbitz Sexiest Cities 2014 | ||
| Rank | U. S. Destination | International |
| Destination | ||
| 1 | Las Vegas | Paris |
| 2 | Miami | Rome |
| 3 | New York | Cancun |
| 4 | San Francisco | San Jose |
| 5 | Los Angeles | London |
| 6 | Chicago | Toronto |
Most Popular Destinations for Valentine's Day/President's Day Weekend
As it relates to what travelers who already made plans for the 3-day weekend are doing, Orbitz found:
- The polar vortex seems to be driving travelers to warmer weather destinations this year, taking seven of the top 10 spots.
- With hotel price increases nearly across the board for Presidents' Day, Honolulu is the only destination with a price decrease – coming in six percent under last year's average daily rate.
- International destinations are a trend this dual holiday weekend, with three new additions – while last year's list solely included domestic cities. Thanks to the white sandy beaches and warm water, Punta Cana and Cancun shot straight to the top three.
| Orbitz Top 10 Destinations for Valentine's Day/Presidents' | ||||
| Day Weekend 2 | ||||
| Destination | Ranking | 2014 | 2013 | YOY |
| ADR | ADR | Change | ||
| Las Vegas | 1 | $132 | $118 | +11% |
| Cancun, Mexico | 2 | $299 | $269 | +11% |
| Punta Cana, Dominican Republic | 3 | $345 | $339 | +2% |
| New York City | 4 | $216 | $194 | +11% |
| Orlando | 5 | $128 | $122 | +5% |
| Honolulu | 6 | $220 | $235 | -6% |
| San Francisco | 7 | $199 | $153 | +30% |
| San Diego | 8 | $140 | $126 | +11% |
| Puerto Vallarta, Mexico | 9 | $144 | $132 | +9% |
| Chicago | 10 | $136 | $134 | +1% |
1 The Orbitz Valentine's Day/Sexiest Cities survey was fielded by Orbitz from Jan. 31 - Feb. 5, 2014 via insightexpress. 750 U.S. adults aged 18 and older who had traveled within the past 12 months were surveyed.
2 Top 10 Valentine's Day/Presidents' Day travel destinations and average hotel prices are based on Orbitz.com hotel bookings for travel from Feb. 13 - Feb. 17, 2014 vs. the coinciding holiday period last year, Feb. 16 - Feb. 20, 2013.
About Orbitz.com
Orbitz.com is a leading travel website that enables consumers to search for and book a broad range of hotels , flights , car rentals , cruises , vacation packages and destination activities . Since launching in June 2001, Orbitz.com has become one of the world's largest online travel sites. Orbitz.com now offers the groundbreaking Orbitz Rewards loyalty program-the only program where customers can earn rewards immediately on flights, hotels and packages, and redeem instantly on tens of thousands of hotels worldwide. Customers can earn up to 5% towards future hotel stays when booking hotels and 1% towards future hotel stays when booking either standalone flights or eligible vacation packages. Orbitz.com is the #1 way to book travel on mobile devices, be it using our apps (get them at www.orbitz.com/mobile ) or our smartphone-optimized website (m.orbitz.com), both of which are tailored for smartphones and tablets. The Orbitz app for iPhone is one of only 48 apps out of nearly 900,000 available apps chosen by Apple to be inducted into its App Store Hall of Fame. Orbitz members get exclusive access to Insider Steals hotel deals, promotions and other saving opportunities. Follow Orbitz on Facebook , Twitter and through the Orbitz Travel Blog . Orbitz.com is operated by Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW ).
About Orbitz Worldwide
Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW ) is a leading global online travel company using technology to transform the way consumers around the world plan and purchase travel. Orbitz Worldwide operates the consumer travel planning sites Orbitz ( www.orbitz.com ), ebookers ( www.ebookers.com ), HotelClub ( www.hotelclub.com ) and CheapTickets ( www.cheaptickets.com ). Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Partner Network ( www.orbitz.com/OPN ) delivers private label travel technology solutions to a broad range of partners including some of the world`s largest airlines and travel agencies, and Orbitz for Business ( www.orbitzforbusiness.com ) delivers managed travel solutions for companies of all sizes. Orbitz Worldwide makes investor relations information available at investors.orbitz.com .
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