San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf is expected to be a lot more crowded for the upcoming holiday weekend.  According to priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN), Fisherman’s Wharf ranks #4 on the list of the Top 50 Destinations for July 4th.  The Union Square East neighborhood also made the list at #25.  New Orleans’ French Quarter is the most popular destination this year, followed by Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue at #2 and New York City’s Midtown West at #3.  For the first time, Paris neighborhoods took four spots on the July 4th Top 50 list.

Priceline.com’s Top 50 Destinations list is based on over 30,000 hotel room booking requests made by customers using priceline.com’s Name Your Own Price® hotel reservation service.  The 2013 list is based off of credit card-backed booking requests on priceline.com, revealing actual consumer travel intent for the upcoming holiday. 

“The industry is flooded with editorial opinion about the best travel destinations for this year, as well as a lot of consumer poll data that sheds light on where American travelers would like to spend their holiday, but we wanted to take a close look at actual booking intent to see where people are truly packing up for,” said Brett Keller, Chief Marketing Office of priceline.com. “We’re seeing some really unique trends this year, from the emergence of European destinations in the top ranks to the slow-down in beach-going travel.  One thing is for sure – the appetite for travel this holiday season is robust.”      

Priceline.com also reported today that the average domestic airfare for July is $402, which is 4.5% higher than last year.  The average international airfare for July is $886, or 4.2% above 2012, based on tickets booked over the past 30 days.  Looking ahead to August, the average domestic airfare is $362, or 4.3% higher than last year.  The average international airfare for August 2013 is $860, which is 3% above last year.

Read more about this story from the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://blog.sfgate.com/getlost/2013/06/28/san-francisco-is-one-of-the-top-5-destination-spots-for-july-4th/