Business Services Industry
50 Most-Popular Destinations for Memorial Day 2004; Priceline Travel Survey Confirms Crowds Are Likely For May 29th World War II Memorial Dedication In Washington, DC
Business Wire, May 25, 2004
Business Editors/Travel Writers
NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2004
Internet travel service priceline.com(R) (Nasdaq:PCLN) has released the results of its 2nd annual survey of the 50 most-popular destinations for Memorial Day. The survey is based on more than 30,000 actual hotel room booking requests made by priceline.com customers for the May 29-31 long weekend. Priceline.com sells hotel rooms, airline tickets, vacation packages, rental cars and cruises, often at significant discounts over other online travel services.
"We're seeing very traditional travel patterns for Memorial Day 2004 that are almost a mirror of a year ago, when gasoline was 25% cheaper," said Chris Soder, priceline.com's Executive Vice President, Lodging and Vacation Products. "People seem intent on not letting fuel costs get in the way of their Memorial Day celebrations." Mr. Soder also said that priceline.com still has plenty of money-saving travel deals available for last-minute bookings (for sample deals, see the end of this release or visit www.priceline.com).
For the second year in a row, the Las Vegas Strip area was the most requested Memorial Day destination. With the upcoming May 29th dedication of the new National World War II Memorial, Washington's White House/Downtown area was #2 on the list, up from #41 a year ago. In total, four Washington-area neighborhoods found their way on to the top 50 list (#2 White House/Downtown, ##35 Georgetown/Foggy Bottom, #40 Silver Spring and #49 Dupont Circle/Woodley Park).
Niagara Falls was back on the Memorial Day list for the 2nd straight year, with the U.S. side of the falls coming in at #11 and the Canadian side at #39. Beach areas were popular again, with spots like Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, Destin/Fort Walton, Key West, Hilton Head, San Diego, Santa Monica, San Juan, South Beach and Waikiki all making the top 50 list. Americans traveling internationally for Memorial Day mostly chose Canadian cities. Outside North America, London and Paris were the two international destinations to make the list. And, as expected, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Area made its annual appearance on the Memorial Day list at #36.
Priceline.com's 50 Most-Popular Vacation Destinations for Memorial Day are: 1 Las Vegas Strip Area 2 Washington's White House/Downtown Area 3 New York's Midtown West Area 4 New York's Upper Midtown/Central Park South Area 5 Chicago's North Michigan Avenue Area 6 New York's Upper West Side Area 7 Chicago's Loop/Grant Park Area 8 San Diego Coastal Area 9 Las Vegas' West of Strip Area 10 Miami's South Beach Area 11 Niagara Falls (U.S. side) 12 Downtown Boston/Charlestown Area 13 Montreal 14 New Orleans' French Quarter Area 15 Monterey/Pacific Grove Area 16 San Diego's Shelter Island/Point Loma Area 17 Orlando's Disney World Vicinity 18 Orlando's Universal Studios/Sea World Area 19 San Antonio's Downtown/River Walk Area 20 Baltimore's Inner Harbor Area 21 San Francisco's Union Square/Embarcadero Area 22 Waikiki South Area 23 Palm Springs' Rancho Mirage/Indian Wells Area 24 Downtown San Diego and Harbor Island Area 25 Downtown Seattle 26 Chicago's River North Area 27 New York's Midtown East Area 28 LA's Santa Monica and Marina del Rey Area 29 San Antonio West Area 30 Hilton Head Area 31 Virginia Beach Area 32 Downtown Toronto Area 33 Key West 34 Vancouver 35 Washington's Georgetown/Foggy Bottom Area 36 Indianapolis Speedway Area 37 San Francisco's Union Square West Area 38 Las Vegas' UNLV Area 39 Niagara Falls (Canadian side) 40 Silver Spring, MD 41 Paris' St. Germain/Latin Quarter Area 42 New York's Midtown South Area 43 Myrtle Beach Area 44 San Juan 45 Markham, Ontario 46 Charlotte's University Area 47 Boston's World Trade Center Area 48 London's Mayfair/Soho Area 49 Washington's Dupont Circle/Woodley Park Area 50 Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, FL Area
Priceline.com Travel Deals For Memorial Day
For full details, terms, conditions and availability, visit www.priceline.com.
Airline Tickets
Fares shown are for published-fare round-trip airline tickets, where travelers selected their specific airlines, flights and itineraries prior to purchase. Purchases were made on priceline.com for travel between May 26 and June 3, and include all taxes and fees. Future availability and pricing is subject to change.
-- Philadelphia-Palm Beach, $123.
-- Baltimore-Orlando, $135.
-- Chicago-Denver, $144.
-- Orlando-New York, $168.
-- New York-San Francisco, $224.
-- Miami-Las Vegas, $239.
-- Sacramento-New Orleans, $269.
Hotel Rooms
Hotel examples shown are for offers booked in May 2004. Hotel examples do not include taxes and fees. Future availability and pricing is subject to change.
-- Las Vegas. 2.5-star hotel from $50/night, 3-star from
$60/night.
-- New York City. 3-star hotel from $110/night, 4-star from
$120/night.
-- Miami. 3-star hotel from $50/night, 4-star from $58/night.
