Internet travel service priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) today released the results of its 5th annual survey of the 50 most-popular destinations for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend (May 26-28). The survey is based on more than 30,000 hotel room booking requests made by priceline.com customers for the weekend. Because the survey is based on actual booking activity, and not on consumer preference polls or votes, Priceline.com believes the annual survey is one of the more accurate predictors of Memorial Day travel trends.
Priceline.com also said it still has hotel rooms, airline tickets, vacation packages, rental cars and cruises available for the big weekend, often at significant discounts over other online travel reservation services.
Rainy and cool weather for extended stretches in May appeared to play a role in destination selection this year, as many travelers passed up beach destinations in favor of getaways to the nation’s major cities. Chicago was a big favorite this Memorial Day, with the Windy City’s Millennium Park neighborhood coming in as the #1 favorite destination and North Michigan Avenue coming in at #4. New York City took four spots among the top 10 destinations, while Jersey City was popular among visitors who wanted to see Manhattan without paying Big Apple hotel rates. As usual, a long weekend in Las Vegas was very popular, with the Strip coming in at #2.
Most Memorial Day travelers elected to stay in the U.S., possibly due to currency exchange rates (on May 21, one dollar was equal to roughly half a British pound) and the typically short duration of Memorial Day getaways. London was the only European city to crack the top 50 list. Canadian destinations making the list included Montreal, Vancouver and St. Catharines.
One surprise on this year’s list was the emergence of Charleston, SC, as a Memorial Day 2007 favorite. For the first time, the city’s downtown area made the list at #50 and its Mount Pleasant/Isle of Palms area was #49.
The Priceline Top 50 Destinations List for Memorial Day 2006
#1 CHICAGO, Millennium Park/Loop/Grant Park Area
#3 NEW YORK, Upper Midtown/Central Park South
#4 CHICAGO, North Michigan Ave./River North Area
#5 NEW YORK, Downtown/Soho/Financial District
#9 LAS VEGAS, Convention Center/UNLV Area
#10 SAN FRANCISCO, Union Square West
#11 VANCOUVER
#12 WASHINGTON, DC, White House/Downtown Area
#13 SAN FRANCISCO, Union Square East/Embarcadero
#15 SAN DIEGO, Downtown/Harbor Island
#17 SAN ANTONIO, Downtown/Riverwalk
#19 SAN DIEGO, Point Loma/Shelter Island/Old Town
#20 BOSTON, Downtown/Charlestown
#21 BALTIMORE, Inner Harbor Area/Downtown
#22 MONTREAL
#24 ORANGE COUNTY, Disneyland Area
#27 ORLANDO, Universal Studios/Sea World
#30 ORLANDO, Disney World Vicinity
#32 AUSTIN, Downtown
#33 JERSEY CITY
#34 PALM SPRINGS, Rancho Mirage/Indian Wells/Palm Desert
#35 ST. CATHARINES, Niagara Falls
#36 ORANGE COUNTY, Costa Mesa/Irvine
#38 LOS ANGELES, Beverly Hills/West Hollywood
#39 KEY WEST
#42 SAN ANTONIO, Medical Center Area
#45 WASHINGTON, DC, Alexandria/Old Town Area
#46 SAN FRANCISCO, Fisherman’s Wharf
#48 ST. PETERSBURG, St. Pete Beach/Treasure Island
#49 CHARLESTON, Mount Pleasant/Isle of Palms
Note: Priceline’s Memorial Day lists for previous years are available on www.priceline.com in the press releases area of the investor relations section.
About Priceline.com® Incorporated
Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) operates priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Priceline Europe, a leading European online hotel reservation service.
In the U.S., priceline.com gives customers more ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises than any other Internet travel service. In addition to getting all the best published prices, leisure travelers can narrow their searches using priceline.com’s TripFilter™ advanced search technology, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com’s famous Name-Your-Own-Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.
Priceline Europe operates one of Europe’s fastest growing hotel reservation services through its Booking.com network of hotel reservation services, Activehotels.com and priceline.co.uk. Priceline Europe operates in 54 countries in 15 languages and offers its customers in Europe and the U.S. access to approximately 34,000 participating European hotels.
Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com also has a personal finance service that offers home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans through an independent licensee. Priceline.com licenses its business model to independent licensees, including priceline mortgage and certain international licensees.
For more information about priceline.com:
To book flights http://www.priceline.com/flights/
To book hotels http://www.priceline.com/hotels/
To book rental cars http://www.priceline.com/rentalcars/
To book a vacation package http://www.priceline.com/vacationpackages/
To book a cruise http://www.pricelinecruiseoutlet.com
To see our PriceBreakers deals: http://www.priceline.com/pricebreakers
For check our travel guides: http://travela.priceline.com/travelguides/
To watch our TV ads: http://www.priceline.com/promo/shatner_pcln_negotiator.asp
Other priceline.com affiliated sites include:
General travel information and trip planning http://www.mytravelguide.com
Travel reservations http://www.lowestfare.com
Rental cars http://www.RentalCars.com
European hotels http://www.booking.com
