Hawaii Travel Blog

Maybe it’s the palm trees, the blue water, endless beaches or just the gorgeous, tropical setting, but Hawaii continues to be a top draw for honeymooners, according to a survey of brides-to-be.
In July, MacNair Travel & Cruises/American Express, a travel agency based in the Washington area, surveyed 100 engaged women for its Honeymoon Trends Survey, and 39% of them picked Hawaii as their dream honeymoon destination.
Tahiti/Bora Bora was second at 31.1%; 23.7% chose Italy; 17.2% chose Greece; and 15.1% picked the Virgin Islands. Only 17.2% showed an interest in taking a cruise.
While 48.4% said word of mouth spurred their choice of honeymoon destination, 60.2% said they got ideas by researching the Internet. Just shy of 50% of said they got recommendations from family and friends; 38.7% said travel agents; 21.5% said brochures influenced their decision.
Nevertheless, 62.4% said they intended to consult with a travel agent to plan their honeymoons.
The survey also revealed an interesting tidbit about how close in newlyweds book their honeymoons.
There was a time when honeymoons were typically planned as far out as a year. But when asked how many months in advance they intended to book their getaways, most of those responding to McNair’s survey (43%) said three to six months, while 21.5% said in as little as three months.
"Survey results indicate that the engaged couple is planning a honeymoon in a shorter time frame and is going for a shorter amount of time than in past trends," Skip Fortier, MacNair’s vacation manager. "However, the budget for honeymoon travel is still higher than an average vacation."
Indeed, 36.6% of newlyweds plan to spend $3,000 to $5,000 on their honeymoon