Maybe it's the palm trees, the blue water,
endless beaches or just the gorgeous, tropical setting, but Hawaii
continues to be a top draw for honeymooners, according to a survey
of brides-to-be.
In July, MacNair
Travel & Cruises/American Express, a travel agency based in the
Washington area, surveyed 100 engaged women for its Honeymoon
Trends Survey, and 39% of them picked Hawaii as their dream
honeymoon destination.
Tahiti/Bora Bora
was second at 31.1%; 23.7% chose Italy; 17.2% chose Greece; and
15.1% picked the Virgin Islands. Only 17.2% showed an interest in
taking a cruise.
While 48.4% said
word of mouth spurred their choice of honeymoon destination, 60.2%
said they got ideas by researching the Internet. Just shy of 50% of
said they got recommendations from family and friends; 38.7% said
travel agents; 21.5% said brochures influenced their
decision.
Nevertheless, 62.4%
said they intended to consult with a travel agent to plan their
honeymoons.
The survey also
revealed an interesting tidbit about how close in newlyweds book
their honeymoons.
There was a time
when honeymoons were typically planned as far out as a year. But
when asked how many months in advance they intended to book their
getaways, most of those responding to McNair's survey (43%) said
three to six months, while 21.5% said in as little as three
months.
"Survey results
indicate that the engaged couple is planning a honeymoon in a
shorter time frame and is going for a shorter amount of time than
in past trends," Skip Fortier, MacNair's vacation manager.
"However, the budget for honeymoon travel is still higher than an
average vacation."
Indeed, 36.6% of
newlyweds plan to spend $3,000 to $5,000 on their
honeymoon.