Crete Ranks Second Most Popular Beach Destination for US Travelers this Year

Preveli Beach, Crete.

The Greek island of Crete is among the most sought-after beach destinations for US travelers, according to a recent report by HomeToGo.

Launched in 2014, HomeToGo is considered one of the world’s largest vacation rental search engines, which frequently releases updates and analysis of its internal search and booking data to provide a glimpse into emerging travel trends across the United States and Europe.

HomeToGo.com’s latest “State of Travel” report, based on traveler searches for vacation rentals with a check-in date between June 21 and September 22, 2023, shows that Crete is the second most popular beach destination among US travelers with a 406 percent increase in searches compared to 2022.

Topsail Beach, North Carolina, tops the list with a 543 percent increase in searches compared to last year, while, besides Crete, only two other beach locations outside the US managed a top 10 placing: Protaras, Cyprus (8^th) and Normandy, France (9^th).

Topsail, north Carolina, US.

Other notable trends of the recent HomeToGo report include:

– An increase in demand for extended vacation rental stays has been observed with the number of US travelers searching for 30+ day stays this summer increasing by 28 percent compared to last year.

– Destinations in Spain and Portugal are particularly popular, with searches for 30+ day stays in Spain up 58 percent compared to 2022 and Portugal up 20 percent.

– Beyond the US, Albania has become one of Europe’s top summer destinations, with the number of travelers searching for summer stays in Albania doubling in the past year.

Sarande, Albania.

-Travel demand in the Asia Pacific region is also making a comeback with destinations such as Singapore (117 percent increase), Malaysia (106 percent), and the Philippines (71 percent) seeing significant increases in travel demand.

-US travelers are also taking inspiration from their favorite films and TV shows, with locations featured in popular shows such as White Lotus 2, House of the Dragon, Outlander, and Top Gun: Maverick all seeing jumps in search demand, ranging from 78 to 175 percent, immediately following their film premieres or season finales.