Growth Strategy Marketing: Trends in Top Vacation Destinations

Over the Last Decade, Tripadvisor, Travel + Leisure & Lonely Planet Focus Attention Closer to Home

Globetrotting may not be the future for trendy US travelers. North American destinations have seen a surge in popularity from top travel guides Tripadvisor, Travel + Leisure and Lonely Planet. Over the last decade, these trusted sources have increasingly turned their attention to the Western Hemisphere. Vacation spots in Canada, the United States and Mexico benefit from growth strategy marketing, with nearly 20% more recommendations from 2015 to 2025.

Removing the duplicate recommendations from years’ past shows an even bigger shift. Here’s a comparison chart of the different destinations featured by my three sources. In 2025, unique North American travel spots more than doubled, from 16 to 41. In 2015, it turns out almost all travel guides recommended NYC and Washington D.C. Today, their editors are casting a broader look at the geography.

For Travel + Leisure, a North American destination even made the list for Top Destinations for Adventurous Travelers, Universal Studio’s new Epic Universe in Orlando (although, I wonder if that was a feat of Universal’s PR team). For growth strategy marketing travel trends, I identified three areas that appear to have seen an increase in organic interest:

1. Mid-Size Cities
2. Beach Towns
3. The Lowcountry

Growth Strategy Marketing Travel Trends:
Mid-Size Cities

New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. remain top US destinations in Tripadvisor’s 2025 list. But other, smaller cities are sneaking onto this exclusive list. Here’s my survey of top mid-size cities recommended by Tripadvisor, Travel + Leisure and Lonely Planet:

• Anchorage, AK
• Juneau, AK
• Edmonton, Alberta
• Sacramento, CA
• Detroit, MI
• Kansas City, MO
• Cleveland, OH
• Portland, OR
• Pittsburgh, PA

Tripadvisor released its 25^th anniversary rankings, which truly shows North American travel is enjoying a boost. When averaging traveler rankings for the last 25 years, only NYC makes the list.  

For mid-size cities hoping to bring home valuable tourism dollars, they should consider these growth strategy marketing tips:

• Embrace the “small town feel” that make a trip to your city accessible and fun.
• Highlight your unique features, like cuisine, culture, sports or geography. See Insight to Action’s “Market Segmentation Examples: Food-Focused Travelers“
• Invest in tourism infrastructure and services to ensure travelers have enjoyable accommodations and transportation, along with a safe environment.
• Partner with local businesses and citizens to make tourism a welcome boost to your city, instead of a nuisance.
• Aim for manageable growth via word-of-mouth. Welcoming more volume than your city is equipped to handle will ruin the experience for everyone, tourist and local alike.

Growth Strategy Marketing Travel Trends:
Beach Towns

American and Mexican towns with beach vibes are beating out classics like The French Riviera and Saint Lucia. In a surprising growth strategy marketing opportunity, Apostle Islands, WI claimed Travel + Leisure’s top spot for “Moments on the Water.” The area, including Madeline Island, appears to be leaning into its Ojibwe heritage:

“‘Ojibwe history is an ancient history, and it is also a living history that is around us in the present moment,’ said Mike Wiggins Jr., the new director of the Madeline Island Museum. The institution is in the midst of a transformation, as artifacts are coming out of their cases and being incorporated into more contemporary exhibits …. Ojibwe chef Bryce Stevenson, a key figure in the Indigenous Food Sovereignty movement and a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist, took a big gamble in 2023 by choosing his out-of-the-way home turf as the location for a high-concept restaurant, Miijim. Its menu centers Native foods from Native producers, whether bison from out west or spruce tips and other ingredients foraged on Mooningwanekaaning, as Madeline Island was originally known.”

Here are other notable beach towns from my three sources:

• San Diego, CA
• Santa Barbara, CA
• Florida Keys, FL
• Sanibel Island, FL
• West Palm Beach, FL
• Costalegre, Mexico
• Hilton Head, SC
• Apostle Islands, WI

As beach towns across North America seek advantage from this growth strategy marketing opportunity, they should keep in mind:

• Beach towns are valued for their casual, relaxed feel. Lean into the beachiest parts of your town, from watersports to luxury spas to “island time.”
• Build beyond the beach. My conversation with AI indicates that 40% of a beach vacation is spent at the beach. The other 60% of the time, most tourists want to do something else.
• Similarly, having a nice beach isn’t a unique enough feature to draw more than day-trippers to your area. As we saw with the Apostle Islands growth strategy marketing example, this area is gaining nationwide attention for its focus on Native American heritage and cuisine.

Growth Strategy Marketing Travel Trends:
The Lowcountry

In the Lowcountry, there is some overlap in growth strategy marketing trends for mid-size cities and beach towns, but this geographic region in South Carolina and Georgia has a flavor and feel all its own. Charleston, SC is an urbane, relaxed gateway to the Lowcountry (meanwhile, Hilton Head, with its yachting culture, is solidly classified as a beach town). And all three of my sources place this area in their top travel destinations for 2025.

Lonely Planet quotes resident Rachel Seeley to summarize the appeal of the Lowcountry:

“I moved to Savannah to live in a historic city with great parks for walking, running and enjoying the outdoors. I also love being close to the beach – lovely Tybee Island is less than 30 minutes away.”

The publication also describes the region more generally:

“The sultry vibe of Lowcountry in South Carolina and Georgia has long lured visitors to its miles of beaches and marshes, as well as its big-name cities, Charleston and Savannah. This region has one of the country’s most vibrant food scenes, and its complicated history has thoughtfully come to the fore at the recently opened International African American Museum.”

Tourism for this large, two-state region is centered in just two cities. But the heritage and historical preservation of Savannah and Charleston don’t lend themselves to growth strategy marketing—stepping back through time is a large part of the appeal. Other towns in the Lowcountry, like Beaufort, are taking advantage of tourist demand with modern expansions made to feel antique.

Growth strategy marketing is an exciting area. Insight to Action’s Growth Strategy Resources cover many topics, from “YEET Takes over WWE” to “Glossier, the Uncomplicated Cosmetic Brand” to “Dawn Platinum Plus PowerWash Dish Spray.” Our experts bring growth to clients in many industries. Contact us to talk about your brand.