• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 22, 2011

The results of The Harris Poll of American adults, surveyed online in July 2011, show that when asked if they could spend a vacation in any country in the world outside of the U.S., and not have to worry about cost, the country named most often for the second year in a row was Italy. In fact, Italy has been a top pick for Americans for some time, ranking as first or second choice for the past 8 years.

This year Great Britain comes in 2nd, followed by Australia in 3rd. This is the lowest ranking Australia has seen since this question was first asked in 1997; last year and in 2008 Australia was 2nd on the list and every other year until now it has been 1st. Rounding out this year's top 5 are Ireland and France.

Greece holds steady at its ranking of 6 from last year, while Spain has become slightly more popular, moving up to 7 this year. Germany has dropped from a tie for 6th last year to 8 this year, and Japan dropped one spot to number 9. Canada, comes in at number 10 this year,

Top 10 Countries Chosen For Vacation Destination (Ranked by all U.S. Adults)
Rank	'08	'09	'10	2011
Italy	1	2	1	1
Great Britain (England, Scotland or Wales) 3	3	4	2
Australia	2	1	2	3
Ireland	5	5	3	4
France	4	4	5	5
Greece	6	8	T6	6
Spain	10	10	9	7
Germany	8	6	T6	8
Japan	7	7	8	9
Canada	9	11	12	10
Source: Harris Poll, July 2011

Considering the chosen countries for vacation, over half of Americans would choose somewhere in Europe, two in five would choose to go to a country in Asia or the Pacific region, while one in ten prefer a country in the Americas or Caribbean. 3% say they would not leave the U.S. and 6% are not sure where they would choose to go.

Top Regions Chosen For Vacation Destination (% Of  All U.S. Adults)
	2008	2009	2010	2011
A European country	48%	50%	49%	53%
A country in the Asia or Pacific region	24	24	24	19
A country in the Americas or Caribbean	15	15	11	10
Source: Harris Poll, July 2011

Different groups of people have different vacation priorities. While the top vacation destination for both men and women is Italy, the rest of their top 5 falls out somewhat differently:

• For men the 2nd top pick is Australia, followed by Great Britain
• The female top picks are Great Britain 2^nd and Ireland 3^rd
• Echo Boomers and Gen X both say Italy is their top pick
• Baby Boomers and Matures pick Great Britain as tops

Top Country For Vacation By Age And Gender (% Of All U.S. Adults)
	Generation				Gender
Rank	EchoBoomers (18 to 34)	Gen X (34 to 46)	BabyBoomers (47 to 65)	Matures (66+)	Men	Women
1	Italy	Italy	Great Britain	Great Britain	Italy	Italy
2	France	Great Britain	Australia	Australia	Australia	Great Britain
3	Australia	Ireland T3	Italy	Italy	Great Britain	Ireland
4	Great Britain	Australia T3	Ireland	Canada	France T4	Australia
5	Ireland	Greece	France	Ireland	Spain T4	France
Source: Harris Poll, July 2011

The report concludes by noting that whether Americans are frequent travelers, voracious consumers of travel literature and news, or none of the above, most have an idea where they would go if they had the opportunity to do so without financial constraints. While taking these kinds of trips is not a reality for most Americans, though continuing to dream about and work toward, small weekend trips can satisfy some of the needs met by vacations, which could be a realistic possibility regardless of schedule or budget.

 For more from HarrisInteractive, please visit here.