This Was the Top Trending Vacation Spot of 2019, According to Google
When planning—or dreaming—about a vacation, there’s one place almost everyone turns to: Google. Where to go? What to do? Where to stay? And, thanks to their analytics, we know exactly the place that was trending in the United States when people typed “Trip to...”: the Maldives. (The definition of “trending,” here, is a search term that had an abnormally high traffic spike in 2019 compared to 2018.)
Yes, the beautiful tropical isles surrounded by crystal-clear waters has captured our imagination. For good reason: Over the past few years, there have been a slew of high-profile luxury hotel openings on the Indian Ocean islands: think the St. Regis, the Waldorf Astoria, Six Senses, Cheval Blanc, and basically every other five-star hotel brand out there. A few months ago, The Standard opened too—complete with a glass-bottom nightclub.
The Maldives has seen a steady growth in tourism over the last five years: according to the Maldives Times, 2017 saw 1.3 million visitors, up 8% since 2016.
Of course, actually visiting the Maldives is very different from Googling the Maldives. For most people in the United States, the faraway destination is quite expensive to visit. So surely, some of these searches were an act of wanderlust. After all: how many times have you seen one of those dreamy, over-the-water bungalows on an influencer’s Instagram?
Coming in second place on the trending list? Japan. The interest in the Asian country is on the rise thanks to, yes, the 2020 Olympics, but also the Setouchi Triennale: the art fair that occurs every three years happened in 2019. Plus, those viral photos of cherry blossom season in Kyoto. Japan was followed by Bora Bora, proving we were all fantasizing about tropical getaways.
Originally Appeared on Vogue
