This NC destination ranks as the trendiest spot to travel for Thanksgiving. Here’s why

Simone Jasper
·2 min read

North Carolina is home to the trendiest place for Thanksgiving travel this year, a new report finds.

But the hot spot — Oak Island — wasn’t the only place in the state to make its mark. Another list found that Asheville and Beech Mountain both rank among the 10 destinations people are most interested in visiting throughout the holiday season, defined as Nov. 1 to Jan. 6.

The results come from the website HomeToGo, which lists millions of vacation rental properties around the world. The locations of the top-ranking North Carolina destinations might not come as a surprise, as the website in a Nov. 9 news release said it found “an increase in demand for larger vacation rentals over Thanksgiving, especially in mountainous areas and seaside towns.”

What makes the holiday destinations special?

To create the Thanksgiving list, HomeToGo said it studied U.S. travelers’ interest in destinations in the year leading up to Oct. 30. It focused on the number of searches “with a check-in between Nov. 17, 2023 - Nov. 26, 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.”

Though the top 10 Thanksgiving destinations were within the country, the list also considered international spots. Oak Island reigned supreme after it was found to have a 383% spike in year-over-year search interest, results show.

Oak Island, roughly 30 miles south of Wilmington, isn’t the only beach destination in North Carolina to be recognized as a top trending vacation spot. Earlier this year, Topsail Island was “heating up” in popularity ahead of the summer travel season, McClatchy News reported in February.

In the latest rankings, Western North Carolina towns also stood out among the places that U.S. travelers were most curious about. Asheville ranks No. 6 and Beech Mountain is No. 10 on a list of trendiest spots for the longer holiday season, which includes the time before and after Thanksgiving, according to data shared with McClatchy News via email.

While Asheville got a nod for the Christmas decor at its Biltmore estate, Beech Mountain is known for its skiing.

Overall, the place that generated the most interest for holiday season stays was Strasbourg, France. Rounding out the top five:

  • Georgetown, Colorado, at No. 2

  • Salzburg, Austria, at No. 3

  • Helen, Georgia, at No. 4

  • Fredericksburg, Texas, at No. 5

Also, the other top remaining Thanksgiving destinations were:

  • Starkville, Mississippi, at No. 2

  • Fort Pierce, Florida, at No. 3

  • Wears Valley, Tennessee, at No. 4

  • Knoxville, Tennessee, at No. 5

The rankings come as the short-term rental company Airbnb shared a separate list of the destinations leading year-over-year searches on its website. In North Carolina, it found that Greensboro ranked No. 1 for interest in holiday and winter trips.

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