Christmas is a notoriously busy time for travel. Like clockwork, airports fill with travelers in festive sweaters, lugging suitcases stuffed with presents to their holiday escapes. This year we were curious about which cities had more people coming vs. going (and vice versa), so we asked our team of data scientists to analyze travel searches around the country and crunch the numbers. Some interesting trends emerged…
According to our research, cities like New York, Washington, D.C., and Killeen, TX have more people leaving than arriving during the holiday season. This is likely the result of transplants and members of the military leaving cities and bases to head back home for the holidays.
When it comes to inflow, however, resort towns are the hot spots for people vacationing in December. While many travelers will be wishing their loved ones a “Mele Kalikimaka” from the sunny shores of Hawaii – Lihue, Kona, and Kahului experience the highest percentage increase of inbound vs. outbound travelers – a considerable number of travelers will be dashing through the snow with flights to ski destinations like Aspen and Vail.
Want to know more? The following infographic breaks down the difference between inbound and outbound yuletide travelers. For more holiday data, be sure to check out our Holiday Travel Hacker Guide, which looks at the hottest destinations this holiday season.
