Expedia, Tinder team up for travel research

The hottest hotties in the United States live in Los Angeles.

At least, that’s what Expedia learned as part of a recent collaborative study with Tinder to determine how travel and romance intersect for Americans.

The study, dubbed, the “2015 Foreign Affairs Study,” revealed a bouquet of fun facts about travel and romance. In addition to a beat on the nation’s most attractive dating population, the study also provided insight into how many Americans get comfortable with new relationships quickly—44 percent of respondents said they feel an overnight vacation is appropriate within the first three months of a relationship.

The 2015 Foreign Affairs study was commissioned by Expedia and Tinder and conducted by GfK, an independent global market research company.

To collect our data, GfK asked 1,000 Americans a range of questions, 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’s parents and where the most attractive dating populations reside.

In response to that last question, Los Angeles was the clear winner: most Americans (37 percent) selected L.A. from a list of more than 20 of the world’s most visited cities. Rio de Janeiro came in a close second (36 percent), followed by Paris (34 percent), Miami (32 percent) and Rome (32 percent). The “least attractive” dating population, out of a list of those same cities, was said to live in Istanbul (26 percent), followed by Seoul (25 percent) and Hong Kong by Seoul (25 percent) and Hong Kong (24 percent).

According to our data, some destinations just seem to resonate with romantics. Paris, France, was chosen by 46 percent of Americans as the ideal city to get engaged in—no surprise to me as it is my favorite city in the world.

Paris was followed by Rome (40 percent) and, to a lesser extent, Barcelona (22 percent), New York City (21 percent) and Sydney (20 percent).

Other data spotlighted travelers’ comfort level using technology as a way to make new friends. About 59 percent of Americans who said they would be “more likely” to use an app (such as Tinder) to connect with new people, said they would do so on vacation with friends. A whopping 33 percent said they would use such an app when on a solo vacation.

The Expedia team at the Expedia/Tinder event

Finally, the Expedia/Tinder study revealed that 30 percent of Americans would be willing to go on a weekend getaway with their significant other within 1-3 months of the relationship’s start. Another 14 percent would be willing to do so within the first month, while 16 percent said they would wait more than a year. The average was about six months.

The impetus for our survey was Passport, a new service that Tinder introduced In March 2015. 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.

We unveiled survey results this week in Los Angeles—a fitting backdrop since L.A. has been confirmed as home to the hottest hotties. In addition to this, we also launched our Match Made in Travel site in partnership with Tinder. On this site, people can swipe on their favorite destinations and we’ll pair them with their perfect travel matches. Check it out and let us know which amazing destinations you got by sharing with the hashtag, #matchmadeintravel.

Additionally, we want to thank everyone who made our week in L.A. a success. First, to the whole team at Tinder for throwing an amazing party and helping us bring the Expedia experience to life for travel lovers. To the Viceroy Santa Monica, which is part of our +VIP Access network of properties and offers special benefits for Expedia+ members, for hosting our team. And to Spencer Spellman of “Whiskey Tango Globetrot” and Rachel Rudwall of “Rachel Roams” and the new HLN show, “Vacation Chasers,” for co-hosting an amazing event Tuesday night at Blind Barber.

Now what are you waiting for? Find your next perfect travel destination and start swiping right. Your next best friend or love connection could just be one plane trip away.