The Orbitz Insider Index Reveals the Top Spring Break Destinations

CHICAGO, March 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Orbitz Insider Index today announced the top 10 destinations for Spring Break and released results of a survey revealing consumer travel habits for Spring 2011.

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Top 10 Spring Break Destinations for 2011

Based on customer booking patterns from March 1 – April 24, 2011, Orbitz looked at the most popular destinations for Spring travel this year. Highlights include:

• Orlando dethrones Las Vegas as the number one Spring Break destination.
• Florida is king of Spring Break 2011 with four of the top 10 destinations in the state (Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Tampa).
• While average daily hotel rates are up in 8 of the top 10 destinations, affordable lodging deals are still available for spring travelers.  Half of the top 10 destinations offer average daily hotel rates under $100 per night (Orlando, Fort Myers, Tampa, Los Angeles and Denver).

Three Tips for Scoring a Spring Break within Budget

According to a recent survey fielded by Orbitz.com, 75 percent of Spring Break travelers plan to keep their spring travel budget under $2,000.  Orbitz.com Senior Travel Editor, Jeanenne Tornatore, offers three tips for scoring a fantastic Spring Break getaway that won't break the bank:  

Consider Off-Season City Escapes:  Travelers looking for a spring getaway that will offer lots of fun minus the big budget should consider a city escape, particularly in a destination in its off-season like Chicago or Boston.  "Hotels in big-city, off-season destinations will likely have excess inventory and are offering deals that will be hard for travelers to pass up," says Tornatore.   

Search for Hotel Promotions: "Looking for hotel promotions like 4th night free, 'kids stay free' or 'kids eat free' is a great way to save money on a Spring getaway," continues Tornatore.  For example, on Orbitz.com, all RockResorts from Jamaica to Vail are offering a Spring Break on Us promotion, giving consumers a 5th night free(2) for stays through April.  

Package Deals are "Savings" Gold:  "Buying a package deal is like putting a piece of gold back into a traveler's pocket," says Tornatore.  "On Orbitz.com travelers can realize big savings by booking travel items together."  The Orbitz Packages Display Matrix makes it quick and easy to see all flight and hotel package options and what you will save by booking items together.   

Other Notable Highlights from the Orbitz Spring Travel Survey

• Beaches (29%), cruises (25%) and city escapes (24%) were of interest to most travelers booking a Spring Break trip this year. 
• An overwhelming 88% of travelers will avoid destinations that are thought to be college Spring Break party destinations, opting to find a more relaxing, family-friendly atmosphere.
• Proving that the destinations are recovering from last year's oil spill, over half of Spring Break travelers would consider the Florida Gulf Coast and surrounding beaches for their Spring beach getaway.

Terms and Conditions

(1) Top 10 Spring Break destinations based on Orbitz.com flight + package bookings for travel from March 1, 2011 - April 24, 2011, for bookings made as of Feb 10, 2011.

(2) Free night savings will be reflected as a percent savings over the entire length of stay when searching for qualified dates. Free night varies depending on property, length of stay, and travel dates. Book by 4/15/11 for travel from 2/1/11 - 4/30/11. Minimum night stay is required, but will vary by property, travel dates, and availability. Resort fee and taxes apply.

About Orbitz.com

Orbitz.com (www.orbitz.com) is a leading online travel company that enables travelers to search for and book a broad array of travel products, including airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages.  Since launching its Web site to the general public in June 2001, Orbitz.com has become one of the largest online travel sites in the world and has led the industry with innovations including Flight Price Assurance, Hotel Price Assurance and Total Price hotel search results. On Orbitz.com consumers can search more than 80,000 suppliers worldwide including airlines, hotels and car rental companies.  Orbitz.com is owned by Orbitz Worldwide.  Stay connected to Orbitz.com with sale alerts, exclusive promotions and engaging conversations by following Orbitz on Facebook (www.facebook.com/orbitz), Twitter (www.twitter.com/orbitz) and the Orbitz Travel Blog (www.orbitz.com/blog).

About Orbitz Worldwide

Orbitz Worldwide is a leading global online travel company that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to research, plan and book a broad range of travel products. Orbitz Worldwide owns a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Orbitz (www.orbitz.com), CheapTickets (www.cheaptickets.com), ebookers (www.ebookers.com), HotelClub (www.hotelclub.com), RatesToGo (www.ratestogo.com) and the Away Network (www.away.com).  Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Worldwide Distribution (http://corp.orbitz.com/partnerships/distribution) delivers private label travel solutions to a broad range of partners including many of the world's largest airlines, and Orbitz for Business (www.orbitzforbusiness.com) delivers managed corporate travel solutions for corporations. For more information on partnership opportunities with Orbitz Worldwide, visit corp.orbitz.com.  Orbitz Worldwide uses its Investor Relations website to make information available to its investors and the public at http://www.orbitz-ir.com. You can sign up to receive email alerts whenever the company posts new information to the website.

SOURCE Orbitz.com