Pandemic destinations
Where tourists flocked, and what they avoided, in 2021
If the travel industry were sending out holiday cards, here’s what they would say: “We’re grateful 2021 wasn’t as bad as 2020. But here’s to more trips in 2022.”
The reality is that the travel recovery is not where many people expected it to be. While Transportation Security Administration numbers amid the holiday season have started to approach 2019 levels, people have generally been restrained about the types of trips they are taking, preferring to visit family and keep leisure trips relatively local.
It’s a fundamental reshaping of the way we explore the world, with profound implications for the destinations recovering fastest and slowest. The trend shows that “if you’re leisure-oriented, with access to beaches or mountains, you did well — or you did really well,” Jan Freitag, senior vice president for lodging insights at global hospitality data and analytics company STR tells Bloomberg. If you have typically relied heavily on business tourism, as many cities do, the opposite was true.
According to indexes from STR compiled exclusively for Bloomberg, these were the bestand worst-performing destinations in Europe and the U.S. in 2021. The figures for each destination are based on a hotel industry metric called “revenue per available room,” or REVPAR, which factors both average nightly prices and overall hotel occupancy. The index divides current performance of the local market by a 2019 benchmark, compares data from Jan. 1, through the end of November vs. the same period two years ago.
Examples whose numbers are greater than 100 mean that the destination made proportionally higher revenues per available room than in 2019; conversely, a
destination with a score of 60 would have made only 60 percent of its revenue per available room, compared with 2019 results.
Best in the U.S.
• Florida Keys, Fla.: 144.8
• Gatlinburg, Tenn.: 132.4
• Mobile, Ala.: 128.3
• Sarasota, Fla.: 122.7
• Daytona Beach, Fla.: 122.0
The takeaway: Florida, with its barely existing COVID-19 restrictions, captured the lion’s share of visitation within the U.S. — three of its markets rank in the national top five. That’s not only because people knew they could party like it was 2019. The state’s abundant beaches and golf courses offered COVID-SAFE relaxation for those who wanted to stay distanced and outdoors. Plus, consistently low restrictions made travelers feel insulated from the risk of last-minute cancellations or closures. Gatlinburg, Tenn., meanwhile, succeeded, thanks to its location as the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains — part of a broader thirst for national parks.
Worst in the U.S.
• San Francisco: 34.0
• San Jose/santa Cruz, Calif.: 41.2
• Washington, D.C.: 49.4
• Seattle: 52.6
• Boston: 52.8
The takeaway: The San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley continue to see more employees working remotely than any other major urban region — not surprising, given its natural reliance on the technology sector. Distancing also translates into a sharp decline in business travelers, probably the primary culprit behind the two lowest numbers. Washington suffered a double whammy in that it couldn’t serve as a hub for international diplomacy until U.S. borders reopened in November — but also lost out on domestic visitors as its museums and cultural institutions were closed half the year. New York, not officially on the list, was the sixth-worst performing market — just slightly behind Boston — though the reopening of International travel delivered a much-needed spike in visitors to the Big Apple in the fall.
Best in Europe
• Turkish Riviera: 192.8
• Sochi, Russia: 170.2
• Turkey Provincial (Ankara and surroundings): 117.0
• Italy Central (including Rome, Perugia and Assisi): 115.2
• Istanbul: 112.8
The takeaway: Turkey was quick to reopen its borders, establishing itself as a haven for regional European travelers, as well as international arrivals, back in 2020. That gave it a prominent advantage through 2021: Turkey’s coast, countryside and capital — through which international air passengers often transit — all rank among Europe’s top five. Other parts of Europe, defined by STR as either major destinations or broader regions, succeeded based on their ability to provide easily accessible outdoor recreation.
Worst in Europe
• Amsterdam: 21.5
• Prague: 22.6
• Lisbon, Portugal: 26.7
• Brussels: 29.1
• Helsinki: 29.1
The takeaway: Cities were hard-hit in Europe across the board. Although they’re not on this list, Paris, London and Rome all indexed below 50 percent of 2019 REVPAR figures. Amsterdam may not be too concerned over its status as the Continent’s poorest performer; the city has been trying to recalibrate its oversaturated and
unsustainable tourism economy for years, so the reset was welcome. Lisbon, however, is a surprise. With an economy more heavily dependent on tourism than some of the other listed cities, Portugal’s capital took a greater hit from grinding border closures and was unable to make up its cumulative deficit, even after U.S. and European visitors began making their way back in June.