Maryland City Among Top 5 Vacation Destinations

Ocean City can thank the series of polar vortexes that gripped the country this winter for what should be a strong summer vacation season.

The Maryland beach resort is ranked in the five most popular destinations for people planning to travel in the U.S. this summer. And the top choice for survey respondents is a beach vacation when asked how they want to spend their time off.

“Summer is typically the most popular vacation season, but this year Americans are really chomping at the bit to travel after the Polar Vortex,” said Brooke Ferencsik, director of communications at TripAdvisor. “A third of respondents are already expecting to increase summer travel spending, so it appears there’s no stopping winter-worn travelers from finding their happy place in the sun this year.”

Ocean City ranked fifth on a list compiled by TripAdvisor, a top travel website. The No. 1 slot went to Myrtle Beach, S.C., followed by Las Vegas, New York City and Destin, FL.

The site’s annual summer travel survey of more than 2,500 Americans shows more people plan to hit the road for a vacation. According to the survey, 89 percent are planning a leisure summer trip in 2014 and 34 percent are planning a Memorial Day getaway – representing a 6 percent and 7 percent increase respectively over last year.

Nearly half of those surveyed, 49 percent, said they plan to make swimming and watersports a part of their time off. This year’s harsh winter has inspired many U.S. travelers to pack their bags: 9 percent of respondents cited the Polar Vortex as motivation to take a Memorial Day trip.

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