Scratching your chin wondering where to roam on your next vacation?  Well, perhaps there’s a few clues for you in Virtuoso’s recent announcement of the Top 10 Spring Destinations for Luxury Travelers.

If you’re not aware, Virtuoso® is the leading international travel agency network specializing in luxury and experiential travel, and our travel agency is an affiliate member.  Recently, Virtuoso analyzed its travel transactions for the first quarter of 2016 and has uncovered the most popular destinations for luxury travelers for 2016.

Top 10 Spring Destinations for Luxury Travelers

1. Mexico
2. Canada
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. United Kingdom
6. South Africa
7. Argentina
8. India
9. Chile
10. China

Note: click the links above to learn more about each of these destinations.

Here’s this from Virtuoso:

It’s no surprise that people are seeking warm-weather locales to escape the Northern Hemisphere’s cold. But they’re looking beyond just the usual sun-and-sand destinations. Luxury travelers are roaming the globe to more exotic places for their break from the chill and damp. Global travel is up overall. And travelers are flocking to a mix of eternally fashionable places and more unusual choices.

Mexico and Canada finish first and second. Their strength isn’t a surprise due to their proximity to the United States. Southern destinations dominate the Top 10 as usual for winter in the Northern Hemisphere. One notable European exception is the U.K., always in style with luxury travelers. Australia and New Zealand are experiencing solid growth, especially for two already popular destinations.

Upscale travelers, always searching for novel locales, are finding them in Asia and South America. India in particular is surging. It landed on both the Top 10 and Hot 10 lists. And Argentina and Chile continue to beckon wealthy travelers with their mix of food, wine, diverse landscapes and history. It’s also worth noting that half these destinations are English-speaking. That makes them more comfortable for U.S travelers.

The folks at Virtuoso mention that global travel is up and certainly one of the contributors to this upswing is the continued strength of the American dollar versus other currencies.

From a currency perspective, the dollar is giving Americans more purchasing power overseas then we’ve seen in a decade.  Just take a peek at this chart showing the Euro falling in value against our U.S. dollar.

While this trend is making it difficult for U.S. companies to be competitive overseas, this presents a significant boon for the American traveler.

Moral to the story?  Get out there and travel.  This won’t last forever!

Do you have a fun trip in mind?  We have in-country experts all over the world in our little black book. When’s it time to plan a trip, we routinely organize a three-way collaboration between our clients, us, and our overseas partners.  It’s impossible for us to stay current in every location in the world.  However, our overseas partners help us do just that.

To begin a no-obligation conversation about a once-in-a-lifetime journey anywhere in the world, call our travel agency at (480) 550-1235, or use our convenient online information request form (click here) and we’ll reach out to you.

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