We recently compiled a report on the 30 Most Remote Places In The US For A Different Experience, and in this article we will look at the largest company.
Overview of the Tourism and Travel Industry
According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is an official website of the United States government, the travel and tourism industry in the US increased by 21% in 2022, as measured by the real output of services and goods directly sold to tourists. The industry previously underwent a 53.6% increase in 2021. The World Tourism Barometer 2024 released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that international tourism experienced an increase of 1.28 billion international tourists in 2023, undergoing a 34% increase between 2022 and 2023. Strong pent-up demand for travel has caused international tourism to recover to 88% of its pre-pandemic levels as of 2023, with a complete recovery underway in 2024.
In fact, the UNWTO Tourism Confidence Index survey indicates improved prospects for 2024 as compared to 2023 according to 67% of tourism professionals. Total export revenues generated by tourism stand at around $1.6 trillion as of 2023, which is about 95% of the $1.7 trillion in revenues calculated pre-pandemic in 2019. These numbers include passenger transport. Furthermore, the tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) stands at $3.3 trillion according to preliminary estimates of 2023. This translates to 3% of the global GDP and is the same as its pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Improved domestic and international travel are the primary regulators behind this growth. You can also look at 25 Most Festive Cities in the US.
Is USA Undergoing A Small Town Boom?
According to a report by Bloomberg, the trend of people leaving urban cities to relocate to smaller towns that began in the pandemic has continued at least through last year. The remote work dynamic has allowed people to move to seaside towns and remote mountain hamlets, leaving big cities behind. According to estimates by Hamilton Lombard, a demographer from the University of Virginia, an estimated number of 291,400 people migrated to the rural areas and smaller towns in the USA in 2023. All the regions these people migrated to had a population less than 250,000 people. Migration to smaller towns and rural settlements exceeded the net migration into larger metropolitans for the first time since the 1970s, showcasing a new trend in the living conditions of the residents of the US.
Where Does Technology Come In?
Online travel platforms have enhanced travel access to even the remotest regions of the world, with Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) being one of them. The American company operates numerous travel metasearch engines and travel fare aggregators, including Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, Expedia Cruises, Travelocity, Hotwire.com, Wotif, CarRentals.com, CheapTickets, and Trivago. The company is, however, simplifying its operations by reducing its brands, including ebookers UK. Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) also slashed several other brands under its ex-CEO Peter Kern, including Classic Vacations, SilverRail, Alice, Expedia Group Multifamily, BodyBuilder.com, and Egencia. An Expedia Group spokesperson told Skift that the closure of ebookers UK was driven by the company’s decision that “that those travelers would get the best experience on Expedia”. No marketing resources had gone into ebookers UK as of late, with the travel site having only a fraction of Expedia UK’s website traffic. ebookers UK customers will be able to travel as per their existing reservations, and can even cancel or amend their reservations after its September 4 closure by contacting customer service.
On May 7, the company announced the launch of a web experience to the UAE market along with a Gen-AI enabled application. The announcement was made from the Arabian Travel Market, with Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) holding a $25 billion travel and tourism industry in UAE. The United Arab Emirates stands as a leader in the travel and tourism sector, with Dubai ranking among the top tourist destinations across the globe in recent years. The region’s increasing popularity is one of the primary reasons behind Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE)’s increasing endeavors in the region.
Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) was also the first travel company to integrate ChatGPT into its online application to increase convenience for its users. The feature helps users access price predictions on future flights, price history, and find the best and most affordable travel plans. Users can also hold a conversation with ChatGPT to get recommendations on where to travel, best places to stay, and fun activities to take part in while travelling. The company’s collaboration with OpenAI is in the beta testing phase, and is evolving as users continue to interact with it.
Now that we have taken an overview of the travel and tourism sector, let’s look at the 30 most remote places in the US for a different experience. You can also look at 28 Most Romantic Cities in the United States in 2024 and 20 Quietest Big Cities to Live in the US.
Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash
Our Methodology
In order to compile a list of the 30 most remote places in the US for a different experience, we used a consensus approach and a visitor survey through Reddit. Firstly, we consulted ten online travel expert resources to compile a list of the 50 most remote places in the US for a different and unique travel experience. Next, we looked at ten Reddit threads that asked commenters to mention the best remote places they had visited in the United States. We only chose threads that had more than 50 comments and studied more than 500 comments to shortlist the best remote places in the United States with the most recommendations by Reddit users. We then counted the number of upvotes on each comment and chose the top 30 places with the most number of upvotes. The 30 most remote places in the US for a different experience are arranged in ascending order of their 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 mass consumers on Reddit.
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The Most Remote Place in the US
1. The Berkshires, Massachusetts
Number of Reddit Upvotes: 601
The Berkshires ranks first on our list of the 30 most remote places in the US for a different experience with 601 Reddit upvotes. The rural area is located in the mountains lining Western Massachusetts, and is built up of more than 11,000 acres of open space. It also houses Mount Greylock, which is the highest point in the state. The hike to the mountain is a part of the famous Appalachian Trail. The highland has numerous villages, and is famous for its rural landscape, farm-to-table dining, and art institutions.
To learn about other remote places in the US, check out our report on the 30 Most Remote Places In The US For A Different Experience.
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