WalletHub ranks nation's top cities for staycations. Here's how Orlando stacks up. - Orlando Business Journal
WalletHub ranked 180 U.S. cities based on best places for a summer staycation. Here's what stood out about Orlando. A study by WalletHub has ranked Orlando as the nation's top city for summer staycations, ranking it alongside 180 other U.S. cities. Orlando's total score of 61.85 beat Honolulu's score of 60.92 to take the top spot. Other Florida cities in the top 50 included Fort Lauderdale (No. 16), St. Petersburg (No., 33), and Miami (No 42). The study also highlighted the high number of amusement parks, water parks, nightlife activities, festivals, zoos and arcades in Orlando. The study, which was released June 10, looked at 182 cities and evaluated them across three overarching topics: recreation, food and entertainment, and rest and relaxation.
Publicados : 2 semanas atrás por Steven Ryzewski no Business
WalletHub's new report on summer staycations ranked 180 U.S. cities. Here's how Orlando compares to Honolulu, Las Vegas, Tampa and more.
There's good news for Central Floridians looking to create memories this summer but wary of spending big on travel and related expenses for a vacation.
According to a new study by WalletHub, Orlando topped 179 other U.S. cities to earn the distinction of 2024's Best City for Staycations.
The City Beautiful's total score of 61.85 bested Honolulu's score of 60.92 to take the top spot. Cincinnati, Las Vegas and Tampa rounded out the top-five. Other Florida cities in the top-50 include Fort Lauderdale (No. 16), St. Petersburg (No. 33) and Miami (No. 42).
"Orlando has an extremely high number of amusement parks, water parks, nightlife activities, festivals, zoos and arcades per capita, so it’s easy to fill a week with different fun outings every day," reads the report. "Orlando is also a great place to eat out, with plenty of affordable restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars out of 5 and very diverse restaurant types."
The report, released June 10, looked at 182 cities — including the 150 most populated cities in America — and evaluated them across three overarching topics using 42 relevant metrics.
The overarching topics were recreation, food and entertainment, and rest and relaxation. A sampling of metrics evaluated include: swimming pools per capita, walk score, bike score, movie costs, bowling costs, nightlife options per capita, festivals per capita, restaurants per capita, diversity of restaurants, prevalence of affordable restaurants, public beaches per capita and "idealness of summer weather."
Orlando ranked first overall in the overarching topic of food and entertainment, in addition to ranking 18th for rest and relaxation (Shreveport, Louisiana ranked first) and 24th for recreation (Honolulu ranked first).
As for some of the other metrics, Orlando ranked:
Meanwhile, the big picture findings of the report sought to highlight options available to Americans who might be looking to minimize costs this summer while still enjoying themselves.
"Not only do you avoid the cost of overnight accommodations and minimize travel costs [on a staycation], but you can also discover all kinds of fun activities close to home that you might not have tried out otherwise," said Cassandra Happe, an analyst for WalletHub. "Plus, you’ll feel more rested if you spend less time in transit and more time sleeping in your own bed.”
WalletHub is not alone in surmising there could be plenty of families choosing to stay closer to home this summer.
“We saw a large backlog of travel during the pandemic. Many people were not able to travel, and as soon as the country opened up again, there was a deluge of travelers. Pent-up desire to travel, paired with extra income, meant we saw a record number of travelers immediately following the pandemic," said David T. Rolfe, an associate professor at Central Washington University, in a release that accompanied the report.
"Now, the demand has lessened and inflation has risen dramatically. There is reason to believe that more families will elect to stay close to home, save money, and look toward alternate entertainment.”
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