FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – HomeToGo, the marketplace with the world’s largest selection of vacation rentals, today revealed the top 15 destinations for Thanksgiving trips, alongside state-by-state travel trends, using extensive user search and pricing data. Driven by a +31% year-on-year uplift in searches for domestic Thanksgiving travel, HomeToGo’s latest analysis uncovers which states have the highest holiday travel interest among residents, the typical distance of their trips, the durations of their stays, and more.
Marking the start of the holiday season, Thanksgiving will continue to be a high-traffic travel period in 2024. We identified a notable rise in overall Thanksgiving-related searches, as destinations across Arkansas, Indiana, and Oregon climbed to the top of the trending list with the largest year-on-year increases in interest among vacationers. When examining HomeToGo’s state-by-state insights, we found that residents in 42 states increased their searches for Thanksgiving stays compared to last year. Regional data reveals that Southern states—such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and West Virginia—stand out with some of the largest spikes in holiday travel intent among locals. Eleanor Moody, Travel Expert and Spokesperson at HomeToGo
Here’s a snapshot of the state-by-state search trends breakdown, previewing the insights for the ten states registering the largest search increases amongst residents for Thanksgiving travel:
Regional Trends, State-By-State
- Increases in Thanksgiving Travel Intent: HomeToGo has seen the greatest year-on-year search increases for Thanksgiving vacations among people located in Louisiana (+88%), followed by Mississippi (+66%), Oklahoma (+65%), Alabama (+54%), West Virginia (+46%), Connecticut (+45%), Arkansas (+44%), Maryland (+43%), Virginia (+42%), and Kentucky (+42%).
- Rural Retreats: Looking at the average across all states, 83% of U.S. travelers are looking for stays in rural destinations. Vacationers from Arkansas are aiming almost unanimously for countryside stays, with 94% of searches being for breaks away from big towns and cities.
- Travel Group Sizes by State: Vacationers from Delaware are embracing Thanksgiving vacations as a group activity, with an average of six guests per search – suggesting travel with family and friends. Vermonters and Alaskans are at the other end of the scale, opting for more intimate getaways with smaller group sizes, averaging just two guests.
- Stay Lengths by State: While Louisiana leads the way in terms of travel enthusiasm, with the highest year-on-year search increase for Thanksgiving breaks in 2024, vacationers from this state also show a preference for the shortest trips, averaging five days.
- Distance to Destination by State: Alabama travelers are staying closest to home, planning to journey an average distance of 333 miles to reach their destinations. In comparison, Washington and Montana vacationers will venture farther away, covering an average of 1,271 and 1,194 miles respectively. The overall average across states is 822 miles.
Here’s a look at the top trending destinations for Thanksgiving, ranked according to year-on-year search increase via HomeToGo:
Nationwide Thanksgiving Travel Trends
- Rental Price Breakdown: The median price per night for a vacation rental stay in the two weeks surrounding Thanksgiving in 2024 is $222, or $79 per person.
- Larger Group Sizes: The average travel group size in 2024 has increased by 30%, with an average of four guests per stay.
Methodology: The methodology can be found via www.hometogo.com/arkansas/family-vacation/#methodology.
About HomeToGo
HomeToGo is the SaaS-enabled marketplace with the world’s largest selection of vacation rentals, listing millions of offers from thousands of trusted partners, including Booking.com, Vrbo and TripAdvisor.
From vacation homes, cabins, beach houses, apartments, condos, house boats, castles, farm stays and everything in between, HomeToGo combines price, destination, dates and amenities to find the perfect accommodation for any trip worldwide.
Founded in 2014, HomeToGo operates local apps & websites in 25 countries across Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Asia-Pacific. HomeToGo also operates brands such as Agriturismo.it, AMIVAC, Casamundo, CaseVacanza.it, e-domizil, EscapadaRural, Kurzurlaub, Kurz Mal Weg, Tripping.com and Wimdu. To learn more, visit www.hometogo.com or download the HomeToGo app.
