Vacations and Travel - Romantic Vacations

Many Americans dream about romantic getaways with a spouse or other love interest to ignite or rekindle romantic feelings in the relationship. According to the 2002 TIA Travel Poll, more than forty-two million American adults said they had taken a romantic vacation in the prior year. Many of these romantic vacations consisted of honeymoons or anniversary celebrations.

Not surprisingly, the TIA survey found that Americans without children in their households took more romantic vacations than parents with children. The poll revealed that romance-related travel was most popular among baby boomers—four out of ten (41%) romance travelers were aged thirty-five to fifty-four. One-third (33%) of these travelers were aged eighteen to thirty-four. The majority (67%) of romance-related travelers were married. Many of these travelers (38%) had above-average annual household incomes of $50,000 or more.

A 2002 poll by America Online (AOL) and Travel + Leisure magazine asked AOL members to rank their "favorite way to spend a dream honeymoon or special anniversary." The top responses were a luxury cruise in the Caribbean (34%) and a visit to an island in the South Pacific (32%). Other popular choices were spending time in a country inn (16%), in the heart of a European city (14%), skiing in the Rocky Mountains (3%) or on an African safari (2%). When asked what, in their "wildest dreams," would be their most romantic trip, 53% said they wished they could rent out an entire private-island resort. Another 18% said they dreamed of chartering a yacht to sail to all seven continents, while 12% said they'd like to lease a castle with a full staff.