Which US City Will Be Visited The Most Over Labor Day Weekend During The Pandemic?

Despite warnings about a potential COVID-19 surge over Labor Day Weekend, many Americans are still showing interest in excursions.

Whether it’s a long road trip or a short flight, U.S. travelers are keeping their reservations for the long weekend despite some travel restrictions. From 14-day quarantines upon arrival to travel forms to complete, destinations such as Florida, Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean, remain popular with travelers.

Data from the itinerary app TripIt showed that a sizeable number of Americans are looking to visit Florida as the number of flight reservations in the state has grown by 200% year-over-year. As many as 12% of flights booked for Labor Day are to Florida, up from 4% in 2019, according to the report.

American’s traveling to Florida are primarily going to Orlando as the data from TripIt suggests that it will be the third most visited city over Labor Day, only trailing Las Vegas and Denver, respectively. Other Florida cities expected to draw travelers include Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Meyers.

Florida has reported over 637,000 COVID-19 cases and had 11,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The state does not have travel restrictions or a mask requirement.

However, Hawaii, which requires a 14-day quarantine period for some of its islands unless a negative COVID-19 test result is provided within 72 hours of departure, has seen a 50% year-over-year increase in flight bookings for the holiday weekend, TripIt said.

Hawaii has reported nearly 9,000 confirmed coronavirus cases with 75 COVID-19 deaths, according to the state’s Department of Health.

Metro cities such as New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta still rank in the top 25 destinations to visit this weekend, but many have dropped in popularity among U.S. travelers. New York City, for example, has moved from the No. 5 most-visited city for Labor Day travel in 2019 to No. 19, but the city does have strict travel restrictions that may prevent some people from choosing it as a destination over Labor Day, the data from the report indicated.

New York has effectively reduced the coronavirus curve, reported around a 1% average positivity rate. The state's number of reported cases is over 437,000, with over 32,900 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. has over 6.1 million COVID-19 cases and over 186,000 deaths.