By Sarah Waffle Gavin, on May 31, 2016

Top Expedia destinations over 20 years

In the two decades that Expedia has been in business, we have sold enough hotel room nights to account for every person living in the United States. We’ve enabled people to travel to more than 2,100 cities in more than 200 countries, territories, or colonies. And we’ve averaged a booking every other second. In other words, since Expedia was founded in 1996, it’s been quite a ride.

Now, then, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re looking back wistfully, celebrating some of our biggest accomplishments, and offering pretty awesome deals on traveling this year.

The deal launches today. By clicking through to expedia.com/20-year-of-expedia, customers can uncover coupons including 20 percent off hotels, US$20 off hotels, and US$150 off packages. We’re also giving away surprise coupons where the discount could be as much as 96 percent off.

Additionally, Expedia will offer hotel deals throughout the entire promotion, which runs through Aug. 2.

But the retrospective, which we released today, is pretty amazing, too. A comprehensive look back at booking data showed us that Las Vegas has been the most popular destination searched on Expedia, and that the top five list of hotel nights sold includes Vegas (No. 1), Orlando (2), New York (3), Los Angeles (4), and San Diego (5). The data also indicated that Mexico—specifically Cancun—is the top international destination for American travelers, and that more people have flown out of New York City than from any other American city.

Our deep-dive unearthed some other hard-to-believe facts. Like the one about the largest group of travelers to book a single itinerary on Expedia: 100 people booking a group trip to Dollywood back in 2009. And the one about the most complex trip itinerary: A 14-stage trip spanning 80 days that started in Budapest and ended in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Perhaps the most incredible statistic of them all: Over the last 10 years alone, travelers who booked through Expedia have flown 534 billion miles, or the equivalent of 72 round-trip flights from the sun to Pluto.

Aman Bhutani, president of the Brand Expedia Group, put this all wonderfully into context in a press release this week.

“Through Expedia, consumers have fueled a wholesale transformation in travel over the past two decades,” he said. “Today travelers can dream, plan, and book vacations when and how they want: by computer, via mobile devices, even with a good old-fashioned phone call. We are thankful to have helped millions of people explore. And we are very excited about what the next 20 years will bring.”

I, for one, couldn’t agree more. I can’t wait to see where people travel over the next 20 years. And I know I’ll be contributing to the mix whenever possible.

What has been your favorite trip over the last 20 years and why?