American travelers prefer Australia, mate

American travelers agree: if cost is not an issue, their preferred country is Australia.

That was the result of a Harris Poll that found for the 11^th year in a row, Australia topped the list as the most popular and ideal vacation destinations for Americans. The runners-up were Italy, Great Britain, France and Ireland.

Rounding out the top ten were Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and Greece.

Australia is the favorite vacation destination for most demographic groups, but there were some exceptions.

“Italy is the favorite for Echo Boomers (those aged 18 to 30) and for college graduates without post graduate education. Britain is the favorite of Matures (aged 62 and over) and people with some college education, but not a college degree,” says Harris.

Overall, half of all adults would choose a European country for a foreign vacation if cost was not an issue. One-quarter would choose a country in Asia or the Pacific and one in ten (11%) percent would go to the Caribbean or the Americas.

Report by David Wilkening