Valentine’s Day weekend is the perfect time for some much-needed R&R with your significant other, which is why by this evening, airports and bus terminals will be swarming with people going out of town. Travel is a huge part of the romantic holiday as couples across the globe take the opportunity to spend quality time together and take advantage of the chance to do mushy things for each other.
Romantic getaways are also conducive to proposals. A little over 50 percent of respondents of the Expedia Heat Index 2015 say that they would be “somewhat or very likely” to propose on a vacation. This is probably because vacations allow partners to be more intimate with each other, which almost three in 10 respondents report to be the case.
Hotel features and amenities help enhance the mood as well. The most romantic hotel feature is “a room with a view,” according to over six in 10 respondents. The fireplace, hot tub, private beach, spa and room service are likewise deemed romantic.
On the other hand, new and exotic locations are shown to reinvigorate a couple’s sex life. Thirteen in 20 say that they are likely to get physical inside their own hotel room while the bathtub is the top choice for 23 percent, edging out the hot tub by two percentage points. Elsewhere, the deed is done in a tent (17 percent), on a balcony (10 percent), on a boat (10 percent), while hiking (8 percent), and in a rental car (4 percent).
As for sexy vacation spots, Paris leads the pack with a whopping 56 percent of respondents agreeing that it is the sexiest in the world. Las Vegas and Cancun follow with 43 percent and 36 percent respectively. The Bahamas and Miami round out the top five. The rest of the top 10 are Barcelona, New York City, Rio de Janeiro, St. Thomas and Jamaica. Respondents picked Kowloon (Hong Kong), Istanbul and Beijing as the least sexiest cities.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Paris is also chosen as the most romantic city—61 percent of respondents think so. A far second with 27 percent is the Bahamas. Cancun and Barcelona got 24 percent apiece. London and New York each got 23 percent. Las Vegas, St. Thomas, St. Martin and San Francisco complete the top 10. The least romantic cities are Kowloon, Beijing and Bogota.
But generally speaking, cities are considered the least romantic of tourist destinations. Respondents believe beach vacations are the most romantic types of travel, followed by “international travel to exotic locations” and the “countryside.”