we recently compiled a list of the 25 Most Historic Cities and Small Towns in the United States and in this article we will look at the top city.

State of Travel and Tourism in the United States

International travel and tourism play a critical role in the US economy. According to the International Travel Administration report the travel and tourism industry in the US comprised approximately 2.15% of the GDP in 2021. Moreover, the industry created 7.4 million job opportunities, out of which 4.8 million were direct jobs and 2.6 million were indirect jobs affiliated with the industry. The tourism industry is also one of the major contributors to the international trade of the United States. In 2022, the travel and tourism receipts formed 18% of the US services exports and 5% of all the US exports.

The pandemic hindered the growth of the travel and tourism industry in the US. In 2019, before the pandemic, international visitors spent around $233.5 billion in the United States, thereby contributing approximately $640 million a day to the US economy. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the travel and tourism industry generated $1.9 trillion in economic output in 2019, creating 9.5 million jobs in America and contributing 3.02% to the GDP. However, fast forwarding to 2021 and 2022, although the real output of goods and services sold to international visitors in the US increased by 53.6% year over year in 2021 and an additional 21.0% in 2022, the industry contribution to the GDP remains below pre-pandemic levels at 2.76% in 2021 and 2.97% in 2022.

Sustainable Tourism Market in the United States

With the climate threat growing globally, more industries are transitioning towards sustainability. According to data from UN Tourism, the carbon dioxide emissions from tourism are forecasted to increase by 25% by 2030, from its 2016 level of 5%. Due to this the global travel and tourism industry has moved towards sustainable tourism, concerned with improving the overall economic, social, and environmental issues related to tourism.

According to a report by Precedence Research, the US sustainable tourism market was valued at $0.73 trillion in 2023 and is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 14.40% to reach $2.44 trillion by 2032. The increasing awareness of the environment challenges government initiatives, and the emphasis on the preservation of indigenous cultures and heritage are some of the factors contributing to growth in the market. In the United States, North America held the largest market share of 38% in 2022.

Can a Ramp Up in Travel Demand Drive EXPE?

Tourism activity is gaining momentum and companies like Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) are expected to capitalize on this trend.  The online travel technology company, known for its travel fare aggregators and travel metasearch engines such as Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Trivago, is a key player facilitating sustainable tourism. The company aims to reach net zero emissions by 2040 and has set interim targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030 throughout its operations and value chain and generate 100% renewable electricity each year through 2030. Moreover, in terms of the social impact, the company provided $8.7 million funding to its partners during 2023 and 60 non-profit grants for the well-being and resilience of its partners. It also awarded more than $1.5 million in grants through the Made to Travel Fund in 2022 and 2023 to increase access to travel for underrepresented travelers.

However, Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) has faced some turbulence over the past few quarters including leadership changes, the front-end migration of its platforms, and a slower than expected recovery in its vacation rentals business after its technical migration. Moreover, although travel demand has normalized across the globe since the pandemic, the pace of recovery in North America has not kept up with other markets which has impacted Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) more than peers due to its increased exposure to the US.

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) managed to grow its revenue by 8.4% year over year in Q1 and generated $2.9 billion, ahead of market consensus by $80 million. Vrbo’s slow recovery after being integrated into a single platform with Expedia and Hotels.com led to a pressure on the company’s gross bookings and caused it to lower its guidance for full-year 2024. Management expects to grow its 2024 revenue in the mid- to high single-digit range and EBITDA and EBIT margins in-line with last year. Vrbo’s slow recovery may have been influenced by lower marketing spend in the second half of 2023 to focus on the technical migration, however, management now remains focused on improving all its business lines with continued investments in its B2C business (Vrbo) and international growth markets.

Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) ended the quarter with $5.7 billion in unrestricted cash balance and bought back $780 million worth of its stock during Q1 2024. The group will continue to repurchase $4.1 billion worth of its stock under its share buyback program which was authorized in November 2023.

Management believes its stock is undervalued and has not priced in its long-term future performance. Is that the case? Currently, EXPE is trading at 11 times its forward earnings on an adjusted basis. Analysts anticipate the company to grow its EPS by 22% in 2024 and a further 26% in 2025. EXPE’s 5-year median PE is 22, and if it grows its earnings to $14.88 by 2025, its share price could go to $327, which is a 165% upside from current levels. Moreover, the 1-year Street-high target of $200 implies a 62% upside from current levels (share price: $127 as of June 10).

While we acknowledge the potential for Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) to make a comeback and grow Vrbo, our true conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock”.

With this context, let’s look at the most historic city in the United States.

Our Methodology

To compile the list of the 25 most historic cities and small towns in the United States, we surveyed Reddit. First, we aggregated a list of the most historic cities and small towns in the United States by sifting through 5 online rankings. Next, we went to Reddit and found 5 high-engagement threads that asked people about historic cities and small towns in the US. We only selected threads that had at least 100 comments. From these threads, we recorded the total number of Reddit upvotes for each city and small town and ranked our list accordingly. The list is arranged in ascending order of the total number of upvotes on Reddit.

Note: This list is not exhaustive and does not reflect our opinion. The ranking is solely based on the opinions of Reddit users. Also, note that we have included places located in the suburbs of Chicago.

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The Most Historic City in the United States

1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Upvotes: 2630

Philadelphia is one of the largest cities in the state of Pennsylvania. It is the most historic city and small town in the United States with 2630 Reddit upvotes. The city has been one of the pioneers in housing all kinds of museums and has a rich history. Some of the historic museums in the city include Charles Willson Peale’s Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Atwater Kent Museum.

To learn about more historic cities and small towns in the US, check out our free report on the 25 Most Historic Cities and Small Towns in the United States.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published on Insider Monkey.