Where do Americans travel most often? These 39 top spots contain surprises
While Americans might be traveling in record numbers, some regions of the world see much more traffic than others.
Where Americans venture overseas the most
With summer fast approaching, many Americans are gearing up for vacations abroad, perhaps in greater numbers than ever. In 2015, roughly 32.8 million Americans traveled overseas -- up 7 percent from the previous year.
While Americans might be traveling in record numbers, some regions of the world see much more traffic than others. WanderBat, a travel research site by Graphiq, used data from the Department of Commerce's National Travel and Tourism Office to find the places where the most Americans traveled to in 2015.
WanderBat only considered U.S. outbound travel to overseas places, which includes all nations except Mexico and Canada. Moreover, because the National Travel and Tourism Office only included countries that had a sample size of 400 or more in its report, the list is not representative of every country Americans traveled to -- only the most popular. The figures (rounded to the nearest thousand) include both leisure and business trips.
The resulting ranking contains 39 places from around the world. European nations were especially popular, taking five of the top 10 most-visited spots. Locations in the Caribbean also proved to be top destinations, likely due to their proximity to the East Coast. China and India were the only two countries outside of Europe or the Caribbean to crack the top 10.
In addition to the 2015 travel figures, WanderBat also included the year-over-year percentage change in number of outbound travelers to each country. Thailand leads the pack in terms of growth, with the number of American visitors rising by 35.4 percent between 2014 and 2015. Brazil, on the other hand, saw the largest dip, experiencing an 8.8 percent decrease. Part of that decline may be explained by the fact that Brazil hosted the World Cup in 2014, which likely elevated its travel numbers. American tourists may have also been waiting until 2016 to visit Brazil for the Rio Olympics.
Note: A country's market share refers to its percentage of total outbound overseas travel. Ties were broken by the number of travelers in 2014 and then on the total number of travelers to that world region. Year-over-year changes were marked as "N/A" when a country did not have 2014 data.
#39. Morocco
Area: Africa
Number of travelers in 2015: 164,000
Market share: 0.5%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: N/A
#38. Poland
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 197,000
Market share: 0.6%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: N/A
#37. Singapore
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 230,000
Market share: 0.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 6.98%
#36. South Africa
Area: Africa
Number of travelers in 2015: 230,000
Market share: 0.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -6.5%
#35. Argentina
Area: South America
Number of travelers in 2015: 262,000
Market share: 0.8%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 21.86%
#34. New Zealand
Area: Oceania
Number of travelers in 2015: 295,000
Market share: 0.9%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: N/A
#33. Vietnam
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 328,000
Market share: 1%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 33.33%
#32. Hungary
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 328,000
Market share: 1%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -3.24%
#31. Czech Republic
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 328,000
Market share: 1%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -3.24%
#30. Brazil
Area: South America
Number of travelers in 2015: 393,000
Market share: 1.2%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -8.82%
#29. United Arab Emirates
Area: Middle East
Number of travelers in 2015: 426,000
Market share: 1.3%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 15.45%
#28. Turkey
Area: Middle East
Number of travelers in 2015: 426,000
Market share: 1.3%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 6.5%
#27. Greece
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 426,000
Market share: 1.3%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -1.16%
#26. Thailand
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 459,000
Market share: 1.4%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 35.4%
#25. Austria
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 459,000
Market share: 1.4%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -6.71%
#24. Australia
Area: Oceania
Number of travelers in 2015: 492,000
Market share: 1.5%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 14.15%
#23. Peru
Area: South America
Number of travelers in 2015: 492,000
Market share: 1.5%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 0%
#22. South Korea
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 492,000
Market share: 1.5%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -5.93%
#21. Taiwan
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 557,000
Market share: 1.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 13.21%
#20. Hong Kong
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 557,000
Market share: 1.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 6.5%
#19. Israel
Area: Middle East
Number of travelers in 2015: 557,000
Market share: 1.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 0.54%
#18. Switzerland
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 557,000
Market share: 1.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 0.54%
#17. Colombia
Area: South America
Number of travelers in 2015: 689,000
Market share: 2.1%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 11.85%
#16. Aruba
Area: Caribbean
Number of travelers in 2015: 689,000
Market share: 2.1%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: N/A
#15. Ireland
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 787,000
Market share: 2.4%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 11.16%
#14. Philippines
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 820,000
Market share: 2.5%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 15.82%
#13. Netherlands
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 820,000
Market share: 2.5%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 15.82%
#12. Japan
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 885,000
Market share: 2.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 10.63%
#11. Costa Rica
Area: Central America
Number of travelers in 2015: 984,000
Market share: 3%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 14.15%
#10. India
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 1,082,000
Market share: 3.3%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 0.46%
#9. Bahamas
Area: Caribbean
Number of travelers in 2015: 1,115,000
Market share: 3.4%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 0.63%
#8. China
Area: Asia
Number of travelers in 2015: 1,213,000
Market share: 3.7%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 6.5%
#7. Spain
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 1,312,000
Market share: 4%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 12.14%
#6. Jamaica
Area: Caribbean
Number of travelers in 2015: 1,508,000
Market share: 4.6%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 8.88%
#5. Germany
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 1,771,000
Market share: 5.4%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: -5.7%
#4. Italy
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 2,033,000
Market share: 6.2%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 6.55%
#3. France
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 2,361,000
Market share: 7.2%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 11.16%
#2. Dominican Republic
Area: Caribbean
Number of travelers in 2015: 2,787,000
Market share: 9%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 2.88%
#1. United Kingdom
Area: Europe
Number of travelers in 2015: 2,885,000
Market share: 9%
Percent change in travelers from 2014: 1.87%