Top destinations to ring in 2019

Tokyo, Paris and New York City are the top destinations to ring in 2019 according to Agoda, one of the world’s fastest growing online travel agents (OTA), with more than a third more people opting to getaway to celebrate on New Year’s Eve (NYE).

A top ten NYE destination for many markets globally and number one for Chinese and Singaporean travelers, Tokyo’s appeal continues with a jam-packed itinerary of concerts, parades and light shows making it the perfect destination to cast off the old and welcome in the New Year.

It’s no wonder Paris, boasting endless themed parties, New Year countdowns at popular landmarks and shows for the whole family, has secured the top spot for NYE travel in Europe. The ‘City of Love’ is a top ten for their British neighbors as well as travelers from Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The ball drop at Times Square in New York City is one of the most iconic and star-driven celebrations of NYE in the world, so it comes as no surprise that New York City is the top North American destination for travelers globally and number two for Americans traveling domestically for NYE.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations (31 December 2018)

	Asia	Europe	North America
1	Tokyo	Paris	New York City (NY)
2	Bangkok	London	Las Vegas (NV)
3	Taipei	Barcelona	Los Angeles (CA)
4	Seoul	Rome	Orlando (FL)
5	Osaka	Berlin	Oahu (HI)
6	Pattaya	Amsterdam	San Francisco (CA)
7	Taichung	Istanbul	Chicago (IL)
8	Hong Kong	Prague	New Orleans (LA)
9	Bali	Madrid	Miami (FL)
10	Chiang Mai	Milan	Toronto

Agoda’s NYE travel data by origin market: Australia

Thailand is the most popular international destination for Australians traveling this year-end with Bangkok (#4), Phuket (#7) and Pattaya (#9) all making an appearance in the top ten.
Tokyo has jumped up the ranking to second place in 2018 from sixth place last year.
Unsurprisingly, Aussie’s love affair with Bali continues into 2019 with the island holding the number one spot again this year.
Aussies staying closer to home this upcoming new year will likely be headed to Sydney (#3), Gold Coast (#5) or Melbourne (#6).

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Australian Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Bali	Bali	Bali
2	Sydney	Melbourne	Tokyo
3	Melbourne	Sydney	Sydney
4	Gold Coast	Bangkok	Melbourne
5	Bangkok	Gold Coast	Bangkok
6	Phuket	Tokyo	Gold Coast
7	Tokyo	Brisbane	Phuket
8	Brisbane	Phuket	Singapore
9	Pattaya	Pattaya	Pattaya
10	Singapore	Singapore	Osaka

China

Chinese travelers are looking to travel further afield to celebrate the year-end as local destinations such as Shanghai and Beijing drop out of top ten in favor of international destinations in Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
Japan is the most popular region for Chinese travelers this upcoming NYE with Tokyo (#1), Osaka (#4), Kyoto (#7) and Sapporo (#8) taking four out of the top ten spots.
Thailand is still a popular choice with Bangkok (#2), Chiang Mai (#9) and Phuket (#10) making an appearance in the top ten.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Chinese Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Shanghai	Guangzhou	Tokyo
2	Tokyo	Shanghai	Bangkok
3	Bangkok	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
4	Hong Kong	Shenzhen	Osaka
5	Guangzhou	Tokyo	Taipei
6	Seoul	Bangkok	Seoul
7	Beijing	Beijing	Kyoto
8	Phuket	Seoul	Sapporo
9	Chiang Mai	Taipei	Chiang Mai
10	Taipei	Nanjing	Phuket

Indonesia

Indonesians are increasingly looking to celebrate the year-end further afield with four destinations (Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok) in the top ten this year, compared with only two in 2016 (Singapore and Kuala Lumpur).
This year Bali takes the crown for most popular NYE destination from Jakarta, which has held the top spot the previous two years.
Tokyo is an increasingly popular destination for Indonesians traveling for NYE, moving up from eighth place last year to fifth place in 2018.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Indonesian Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Jakarta	Jakarta	Bali
2	Bali	Bali	Yogyakarta
3	Bandung	Bandung	Jakarta
4	Yogyakarta	Yogyakarta	Bandung
5	Singapore	Surabaya	Tokyo
6	Surabaya	Singapore	Singapore
7	Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur
8	Semarang	Tokyo	Bangkok
9	Bogor	Malang	Surabaya
10	Solo (Surakarta)	Semarang	Malang

Israel

Israelis continue to celebrate NYE further afield with all top ten destinations in Asia and Europe for the last two years.
Capital cities in Europe are especially popular for NYE with London, Berlin and Rome taking the top three spots this year.
Thailand is the most popular country to celebrate NYE making up half of the top ten list, popular places are Bangkok (#4), Koh Phangan (#5), Koh Samui (#7), Phuket (#9) and Pattaya (#10).

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Israeli Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	London	Koh Phangan	London
2	Berlin	Rome	Berlin
3	Bangkok	London	Rome
4	Koh Samui	Berlin	Bangkok
5	Phuket	Koh Samui	Koh Phangan
6	Tel Aviv	Amsterdam	Paris
7	New York (NY)	Pattaya	Koh Samui
8	Budapest	Phuket	Amsterdam
9	Pattaya	Bangkok	Phuket
10	Dubai	Budapest	Pattaya

Japan

Japanese travelers are increasingly favoring domestic trips over long-haul getaways for year-end travel with local destinations making up four out of ten of the top destinations this year (Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa and Kyoto), compared with only two in 2016 (Tokyo and Osaka).
Tokyo in particular is increasing in popularity, moving up from fifth place in 2016 to the top spot in 2018
For those headed abroad, Thailand is the most popular destination with Bangkok (#2), Pattaya (#5) and Phuket (#7) all making an appearance in the top ten

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Japanese Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Bangkok	Bangkok	Tokyo
2	Seoul	Tokyo	Bangkok
3	Pattaya	Seoul	Seoul
4	Taipei	Pattaya	Osaka
5	Tokyo	Taipei	Pattaya
6	Phuket	Osaka	Taipei
7	Hong Kong	Phuket	Phuket
8	Bali	Bali	Bali
9	Osaka	Hong Kong	Okinawa Main island
10	Shanghai	Kyoto	Kyoto

Malaysia

Malaysians are visiting local South East Asia destinations to see in the New Year, with five destinations in the top ten this year (Bangkok, Taipei, Hat Yai Tokyo and Seoul), compared with only one in 2016 (Bangkok).
Thailand is the most popular foreign country for Malaysian travelers, with Bangkok (#2) and Hat Yai (#6) taking two spots in the top ten this year.
Those celebrating closer to home will be headed to Kuala Lumpur (#1), Penang (#2), Langkawi (#3), Malacca (#7) and Kuching (#9).

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Malaysian Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur
2	Malacca	Malacca	Bangkok
3	Penang	Penang	Penang
4	Bangkok	Johor Bahru	Langkawi
5	Johor Bahru	Bangkok	Taipei
6	Kota Kinabalu	Ipoh	Hat Yai
7	Langkawi	Kota Kinabalu	Malacca
8	Ipoh	Port Dickson	Tokyo
9	Cameron Highlands	Langkawi	Kuching
10	Port Dickson	Kuching	Seoul

Philippines

Agoda’s booking data shows more Filipinos looking to celebrate the year-end overseas in 2018, with five international destinations in the top ten this year (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul and Osaka), compared with only three in 2016 (Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore).
Thailand is the most popular foreign country for Filipino travelers, with Tokyo (#2) and Osaka (#8) taking two spots this year.
Those celebrating closer to home will be headed to Manila (#1), Cebu (#6), Baguio (#7), Boracay (#9) and Tagaytay (#10)

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for travelers from the Philippines (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Manila	Manila	Manila
2	Cebu	Cebu	Tokyo
3	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
4	Boracay Island	Tokyo	Taipei
5	Tokyo	Boracay Island	Seoul
6	Baguio	Taipei	Cebu
7	Tagaytay	Baguio	Baguio
8	Subic (Zambales)	Palawan	Osaka
9	Palawan	Tagaytay	Boracay Island
10	Singapore	Seoul	Tagaytay

Saudi Arabia

Cities in the Arab Peninsular are the most popular travel destinations for Saudis to celebrate the New Year, claiming six spots out of the top ten year-end destinations for Saudi travelers according to Agoda’s data.
Dubai again scoops the popular destination for Saudis.
London (#5), Istanbul (#7) and Kuala Lumpur (#10) are the top long-haul destinations.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for travelers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Dubai	Dubai	Dubai
2	Manama	Manama	Medina
3	Mecca	Mecca	Mecca
4	Medina	Medina	Manama
5	Jeddah	Manila	London
6	Riyadh	Bali	Kuwait
7	Manila	Istanbul	Istanbul
8	Doha	Jeddah	Sharjah
9	Kuwait	London	Jeddaj
10	Sharjah	Sharjah	Kuala Lumpur

Singapore

Singaporeans are getting out of town to ring in the New Year as fellow Asian cities Bangkok (#1), Tokyo (#2) and Taipei (#3) are more popular than staycation celebrations in Singapore (#4) this year.
Tokyo has jumped to the second spot from ninth in 2016.
Neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia are also popular short-haul stops with Kuala Lumpur (#5), Johor Bahru (#6) and Batam Island (#7) still in the top ten.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Singaporean travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Singapore	Singapore	Bangkok
2	Johor Bahru	Johor Bahru	Tokyo
3	Bangkok	Bangkok	Taipei
4	Kuala Lumpur	Batam Island	Singapore
5	Taipei	Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur
6	Batam Island	Taipei	Johor Bahru
7	Malacca	Malacca	Batam Island
8	Hong Kong	Tokyo	Seoul
9	Tokyo	Seoul	Hong Kong
10	Seoul	Hong Kong	Osaka

South Korea

Osaka usurps Seoul’s number one spot for NYE travel, which it held the previous two years.
Japan is the most popular foreign country for Koreans to celebrate the year-end, with Osaka (#4), Tokyo (#4), Fukuoka (#5) and Sapporo (#10) all making an appearance in the top ten.
Those staying closer to home for NYE will be headed to Seoul (#2) and Busan (#8).

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for South Korean travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Seoul	Seoul	Osaka
2	Busan	Tokyo	Seoul
3	Tokyo	Busan	Jeju Island
4	Taipei	Jeju Island	Tokyo
5	Osaka	Osaka	Fukuoka
6	Jeju Island	Fukuoka	Taipei
7	Fukuoka	Taipei	Bangkok
8	Bangkok	Bangkok	Busan
9	Okinawa Main island	Sapporo	Da Nang
10	Hong Kong	Da Nang	Sapporo

Thailand

Chiang Mai takes over Bangkok’s crown for top NYE destination this year for Agoda’s Thai travelers.
Japan is the most popular international destination with Tokyo jumping from seventh place last NYE to third place and Osaka making an appearance in this year’s top ten.
Taiwan is increasingly on the map as a year-end destination for Thai travelers, with Taipei making its first appearance in the top ten this year.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Thai Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Chiang Mai	Bangkok	Chiang Mai
2	Bangkok	Chiang Mai	Pattaya
3	Pattaya	Pattaya	Tokyo
4	Hua Hin / Cha-am	Hua Hin / Cha-am	Hua Hin / Cha-am
5	Khao Yai	Khao Yai	Bangkok
6	Tokyo	Phuket	Khao Yai
7	Phuket	Tokyo	Seoul
8	Chiang Rai	Chiang Rai	Osaka
9	Kanchanaburi	Chonburi	Taipei
10	Seoul	Kanchanaburi	Chiang Rai

United Arab Emirates

Emiratis are increasingly looking to celebrate the year-end beyond the Arab Peninsula with six destinations further afield this year (London, Tokyo, Paris, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur), compared with only three in 2016 (London, Bangkok and Pattaya).
Dubai is the most popular destination overall, holding the top spot for the last three years.
Tokyo is among the fastest-growing NYE destinations for Emirates travelers, making its first-time appearance in the top ten this year at number four.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Emiratis (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Dubai	Dubai	Dubai
2	Abu Dhabi	Abu Dhabi	London
3	London	London	Abu Dhabi
4	Bangkok	Mecca	Tokyo
5	Mecca	Bangkok	Paris
6	Sharjah	Sharjah	Bangkok
7	Kuwait	Ras Al Khaimah	Kuala Lumpur
8	Ras Al Khaimah	Kuwait	Mecca
9	Pattaya	Manama	Istanbul
10	Medina	Pattaya	Medina

United Kingdom

Brits are looking to ring in the New Year in a more tropical climate as popular beach destinations Pattaya (#1), Phuket (#4), Koh Samui (#7), Bali (#8) and Krabi (#10) make up half of the top ten NYE destinations.
The ‘Land of Smiles’ is the most popular country overall, with five out of the top ten destinations all based in Thailand.
Dubai has jumped to fifth most popular NYE destination for 2018, from ninth in 2016.
Those staying in Europe are heading to London (#2), Paris (#6) or Amsterdam (#9).

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for British travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Pattaya	London	Pattaya
2	London	Pattaya	London
3	Bangkok	Bangkok	Bangkok
4	Phuket	Phuket	Phuket
5	Koh Samui	Koh Samui	Dubai
6	Bali	Bali	Paris
7	Koh Phangan	Paris	Koh Samui
8	Berlin	Dubai	Bali
9	Dubai	Berlin	Amsterdam
10	Koh Phi Phi	Edinburgh	Krabi

United States

Las Vegas is the top NYE destination for American travelers again in 2018.
New Orleans, which will be celebrating its Tricentennial throughout 2019, makes the top ten list coming in this year at number eight.
Those celebrating NYE abroad will be headed to long-haul destination in Asia – Tokyo (#2), Bangkok (#5) and Taipei (#10).

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for American Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Las Vegas (NV)	Las Vegas (NV)	Las Vegas (NV)
2	Bangkok	New York (NY)	Tokyo
3	Tokyo	Tokyo	New York (NY)
4	New York (NY)	Los Angeles (CA)	Orlando (FL)
5	Los Angeles (CA)	Bangkok	Bangkok
6	London	Orlando (FL)	Los Angeles (CA)
7	Orlando (FL)	San Francisco (CA)	Chicago (IL)
8	Manila	Chicago (IL)	New Orleans (LA)
9	Hong Kong	Phuket	San Francisco (CA)
10	Chiang Mai	Chiang Mai	Taipei

Vietnam

Dalat usurps Ho Ch Minh City’s for the number one spot for NYE travel.
More international destinations feature on this year’s top ten, as Vietnamese travelers celebrate the year-end further afield with three destinations in the top ten this year (Bangkok, Taipei and Singapore), compared with only one last year (Bangkok).
Taipei enters this year’s top ten in the number four spot.

Agoda’s Top 2018 NYE Destinations for Vietnamese Travelers (31 December 2018)

	2016	2017	2018
1	Ho Chi Minh City	Ho Chi Minh City	Dalat
2	Hanoi	Hanoi	Bangkok
3	Dalat	Dalat	Ho Chi Minh City
4	Bangkok	Vung Tau	Sapa
5	Vung Tau	Bangkok	Da Nang
6	Nha Trang	Da Nang	Taipei
7	Da Nang	Phan Thiet	Singapore
8	Phan Thiet	Nha Trang	Vung Tau
9	Phu Quoc Island	Sapa	Nha Trang
10	Singapore	Phu Quoc Island	Hanoi