Try to ask which country outside of the U.S. would an American choose for a vacation and the answer will be Italy.
According to a survey ran by popular airfare search engine Fly.com, the Bel Paese, always among the top destinations of the travel wish list, is the 2014 top vacation choice for Americans.
Why do Americans love Italy? Reports from travelers to this land of high culture, wonderful art and colorful history say that there are plenty of reasons to make the journey, the least of which is probably the fact that Italy has the best food in the world as well as one of the world’s most beautiful languages and warmest people.
Italian cities of art have been attracting visitors for centuries
Furthermore, with 44 sites, Italy has more Unesco World Heritage sites than any other country on earth.
Its great città d’arte (cities of art), like Rome, Venice and Florence have been attracting visitors for centuries.
For the study sake, travelers were asked to name the most desirable country to visit in 2014 if money and time were not an issue. The majority of those surveyed replied that they would travel to Italy.
Australia came a close second. The two countries are joined in the top five by New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France.
Despite almost half of Americans choosing a country in Europe, Italy was the clear standout of any of the European countries, with twice as many respondents indicating that they wished to travel there over the United Kingdom and France combined.
At a regional level, a preference for travel to countries within Europe and Oceania resulted in the two regions accounting for nearly 60% of all responses.
The Fly.com survey questioned 875 American travelers about which countries they would most like to visit within North America, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Oceania/Antarctic if money and time were not objects.
The same opinion is shared by ASTA, the Association of Travel Agents, according to which: ”Italy with a capital I, that’s where the action is”.
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