Historically, the Thanksgiving holiday is one of the busiest travel periods of the calendar year. However, the Orbitz Insider Index found that Thanksgiving was actually the fifth busiest travel week of 2007, based on Orbitz bookings, as Independence Day inspired more people to travel than any other week in 2007. The busiest travel weeks of 2007 were:

• July 4th – week 27
• Memorial Day – week 22
• Christmas – week 51
• Last week of March – week 13
• Thanksgiving – week 47

Based on Orbitz.com hotel and package (air+hotel) bookings sold as of 11/30/07

For those looking for a less stressful trip when fewer people are traveling, week 49 – the first week of December – was the slowest travel week of 2007, based on Orbitz bookings. The second week of December was second slowest. The slowest travel week of the summer season was the week following Memorial Day.

Long Weekend Travel and Top Destinations for 2007

Recent Orbitz surveys[1] found long weekend trips are now the most popular type of leisure travel, in fact industry research[2] shows that leisure travelers taking more than twice as many long weekend trips as they do week-long vacations.

Orbitz looked at travel over a four-day period for Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day to determine its top long-weekend destinations.

When getting away for holiday weekends, New York City was the top spot for Orbitz travelers in 2007. Chicago and Los Angeles followed, with Washington, D.C. and Denver rounding out the top five destinations.

These five cities also comprise the most popular domestic locales for all of 2007, based on total air and vacation package (air + hotel) bookings year-to-date, however Chicago jumps New York as the #1 travel destination in the U.S. this year. New York City was second, followed by Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Denver. The top 10 travel destinations and long weekend destinations for 2007, according to the Orbitz Insider Index are as follows:

Orbitz top 10 long weekend destinations for 2007 (domestic)

Based on Orbitz.com hotel and package (air + hotel) bookings sold with check-in dates between 02/16/07 and 02/20/07, 05/25/07 and 05/29/07, 07/04/07 and 07/08/07, and 08/31/07 and 09/04/07.

Orbitz top 10 year-to-date busiest destinations for 2007 (domestic)

Based on Orbitz.com hotel and package (air + hotel) bookings sold as of 11/30/07