AAA Travel Lists Top Summer Vacation Destinations

Vacation loyalists still traveling despite rising fuel costs

ORLANDO, Fla., April 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Large numbers of vacation loyalists are still traveling despite rising fuel costs, according to a recent AAA travel agent survey and travel sales data.  AAA Travel's lists of top summer vacation destinations include choices popular with American families for generations within the United States and around the world.  Many seasoned vacationers are expanding their travel horizons to exotic faraway lands.  While many Americans head to their computers when planning a summer getaway, planning a vacation can be overwhelming.  AAA Travel has seen a continuation of the number of vacationers seeking expert advice from a travel counselor to help guide their decisions, save countless hours of research and gain insight into popular destinations.  AAA has more than 3,000 travel counselors located within more than 1,000 AAA Travel offices across the United States and Canada.         

"Many Americans consider travel a mainstay to our way of life and are loyal vacationers," said Bill Sutherland, vice president, AAA Travel Services. "While some Americans may modify their travel due to rising fuel costs, those who can are still choosing to travel and they are traversing the world." 

Last year, several airlines made cost-saving adjustments by reducing seating capacity, consolidating routes, and replacing large aircraft with smaller more fuel-efficient airplanes.  Following those capacity reductions and this year's rising fuel costs, some travel suppliers including tour companies and cruise lines have begun offering price incentives to attract travelers.  Savvy summer vacationers have been taking advantage of those incentives especially for international travel.  Vacationers can visit the nearest AAA Travel office or AAA.com for more price incentive information.   

AAA Travel's Top Summer Vacation Destinations by travel category are:

AAA's Top Summer Land Vacation Destinations:  

Orlando, Florida
Honolulu, Hawaii
Rome, Italy
London, England
Anaheim, California

Leading the way in popularity for summer travel are vacations to the Orlando area, consistently holding the valedictorian spot in the top destination class year after year.    

AAA's Top Summer Cruise Vacation Destinations:

Caribbean
Alaska
Bahamas
Europe
Bermuda

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) forecasts that more than 17 million vacationers will cruise the world's waterways in 2012, one million more than last year. AAA Travel sales data shows significant increases in cruise bookings for the summer family vacation season and throughout 2012 and into 2013.       

AAA's Top Summer Exotic Vacation Destinations: 

China
Peru
The Galapagos
The Amazon
India

Many seasoned vacation loyalists have been choosing AAA Vacations® – a collection of customized cruise and land vacation packages designed exclusively for AAA members – to fulfill their exotic travel desires.  AAA Vacations® destinations include once-in-a-lifetime experiences like a visit to an off-the-beaten-path section of the Great Wall of China.   

Travel counselors at AAA receive frequent travel updates and stay abreast of price changes, travel alerts and continuously monitor the overall travel landscape. Their time, personalized service and first-hand destination knowledge enables them to offer valuable destination tips and sightseeing recommendations adding irreplaceable value to the vacation price.   

As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 53 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. AAA clubs can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.

AAA news releases and high resolution images are available at NewsRoom.AAA.com.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080226/DC15031LOGO)

SOURCE AAA