For the 8th year in a row, the U.S. Tour Operators Association has ranked Italy the top destination for tours, vacation packages and custom travel. Australia and the U.K. tied for a distant second place.

Italy also came in as the biggest overall destination of 2010 in USTOA’s annual informal member poll. “It’s not surprising that Italy won as top destination,” said John Stachnik, USTOA Chairman. “We asked our membership for the best destinations in a variety of categories, and Italy placed first for architecture, walking, romance, and culinary/wine experience.

Top Domestic Travel
The U.S. National Parks came in as top for domestic travel. Alaska and Hawaii were also cited as hot destinations.

Hottest up and coming, Best Dollar Value
Peru placed as hottest up and coming destination. Latin America and the Eastern Mediterranean respectively were voted top regions for dollar value, with Turkey and Egypt tying for first place. Other countries cited as good dollar values were Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, and the U.S.

Hottest Trends
The survey also revealed that individualized and customized vacation experiences are the hottest vacation trends, followed closely by shorter trips and travelers searching for the best value. Other trends are family and multigenerational trips, more last-minute bookings, and river cruising vacations.

The survey revealed that, even though travelers are price conscious, they nevertheless are looking for more unique experiences. As for destinations, members reported that Europe continues to be strong for 2011.