{"id":18053,"date":"2015-06-18T23:23:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T23:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=18053"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:46:35","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:46:35","slug":"foreign-affairs-expedia-and-tinder-study-american-attitudes-towards-travel-and-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/foreign-affairs-expedia-and-tinder-study-american-attitudes-towards-travel-and-romance\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Affairs: Expedia and Tinder Study American Attitudes Towards Travel and Romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americans believe world\u2019s most attractive dating population lives in Los Angeles, edging out Rio, Paris and Miami; 44% of Americans feel an overnight vacation is appropriate within first three months of a relationship <\/em><\/p>\n

BELLEVUE, Wash. and LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 18, 2015 \u2013 Expedia.com\u00ae, one of the world's largest full service travel sites*, and Tinder, the world's most popular app for meeting new people, today announced the results of a collaborative study to determine how travel and romance intersect for Americans. The 2015 Foreign Affairs Study was commissioned by Expedia\u00ae and Tinder and conducted by GfK, an independent global market research company. \u00a0 <\/p>\n

GfK asked 1,000 Americans a range of questions about travel and romance, including how early in a relationship they would consider taking an overnight vacation, which destination features they would prioritize on their first trip away, how willing they would be to vacation with a partner\u2019s parents and where the most attractive dating populations reside. \u00a0 <\/p>\n

The full Expedia\/Tinder 2015 Foreign Affairs Study can be found here<\/a>\u00a0on the Expedia\u00ae Viewfinder blog. In addition to this, Expedia and Tinder also launched a Match Made in Travel game that allows users to swipe right on their favorite locations and get paired with their ideal destination match. Check out the game here<\/a>. \u00a0 <\/p>\n

In March, Tinder introduced Passport as a part of its premium subscription offering. Passport gives Tinder Plus subscribers the ability to change their location to connect with people anywhere around the world by dropping a pin on a map or searching by city. From there, they can begin swiping, matching and chatting with Tinder users in any destination. Passport is helpful when planning vacations and business trips or simply expanding one's social network.\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve long known that travel and romance are tightly linked. Expedia and Tinder together decided to look a little deeper, to see what travel behaviors are considered appropriate at different stages of a relationship, from the first few weeks to the parenting years,\u201d said John Morrey, vice president and general manager, Expedia.com. \u201cFor one, we learned that an overnight vacation is considered acceptable pretty early in the dating process. We also learned that once people have children, they don\u2019t want to travel without them. A third of Americans feel that children \u2013 their own children, of course \u2013 make the travel experience even more enjoyable.\u201d \u00a0 <\/p>\n

Los Angeles the Top Dating Pool, Paris Preferred for Proposals<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fifty-nine percent of Americans who said they would be \u201cmore likely\u201d to use an app, such as Tinder, to connect with new people, said they would do so on vacation with friends, versus 33% who would use such an app when on a solo vacation. \u00a0 <\/p>\n

When asked which cities offered the most attractive dating pools, most Americans (37%) selected Los Angeles from a list of more than 20 of the world\u2019s most visited cities<\/strong>. Rio de Janeiro came in a close second (36%), followed by Paris (34%), Miami (32%) and Rome (32%). The \u201cleast attractive\u201d dating population, out of a list of those same cities, was said to live in Istanbul (26%), followed by Seoul (25%) and Hong Kong (24%). \u00a0 <\/p>\n

Paris, France, was chosen by 46% of Americans as the ideal city\u00a0 for proposing marriage, followed by Rome (40%) and to a lesser extent, Barcelona (22%), New York City (21%) and Sydney (20%). \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Have Partner, Will Travel <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Expedia\/Tinder study revealed that 30% of Americans would be willing to go on a weekend getaway with their significant other within 1-3 months of the relationship\u2019s start. Fourteen percent would be willing to do so within the first month, while 16% would wait more than a year. The average is about six months. When taking that first vacation, \u201cgood restaurants\u201d are considered the most important destination feature, cited by 88% of Americans. Eighty-two percent selected \u201csightseeing\/tourist attractions\u201d and 80% prioritized \u201ca room with a view.\u201d A fireplace was considered least critical, cited as important by only 35% of Americans. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

When asked how soon into a relationship they would be willing to travel with their partner\u2019s family, 36% – the largest percentage \u2013 said they would wait more than a year.<\/strong> Five percent said they would travel with their partner\u2019s family within the first month and 9% within the first three months. Twelve percent of Americans said they would \u201cexpect\u201d their significant other\u2019s family to pay their way. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Further, GfK asked Americans how early in a relationship they would feel it appropriate to share a room with their partner when traveling with that partner\u2019s parents. The largest percentage (43%) again said they would expect to wait more than a year for that privilege, versus only 7% who would do so within the first month. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Americans with children expressed reluctance to travel without them. Among parents with children under 18, 9% would \u201cnever\u201d travel without them. When asked how soon after having children the parents would be willing to leave them for a vacation, 26% said they would wait more than five years. Thirteen percent said they\u2019d take a child-free holiday within the first year. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

For parents with children under 18, 93% said they\u2019d travel without them \u201cwithin the same state.\u201d Seventy-nine percent would travel to a neighboring state. Forty-four percent of Americans would travel cross-country without their children. Twenty-six percent said they would travel internationally sans kids. In fact, one third of Americans (33%) believe travel is \u201cmore enjoyable\u201d when experienced with their children. Twenty-three percent feel it is less enjoyable, and 42% report no meaningful difference. \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Odds and Ends <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the 2015 Foreign Affairs study: \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n