Toronto has never been confused as a sunspot, but somehow the city has muscled in on a host of warm-weather destinations to claim runner up status in a recent survey of the 10 fastest growing vacation destinations among American tourists this winter.

No one is saying that maybe many Americans don’t really know where Canada is (at least out loud!) – or what winter here holds – but the Ontario capital ranked second after St. Thomas, USVI, in the study by ParkSleepFly, and was notably surrounded by seven other hotspots, plus one other unlikely outlier, ninth-placed Munich.

The rest of the top 10, determined through analysis of Google search data for flights, vacations, and hotels in popular tourist destinations around the world, included Cabo San Lucas; Puerto Vallarta; San José, DR; Playa del Carmen; Montego Bay; Cancun; and San Juan, PR.

Conversely, the top five diminishing destinations of in terms of interest were Frankfurt, Beijing, Auckland, Cebo (Philippines), and Bangkok.

Among the survey insights:

• The region increasing in popularity the most amongst US tourists is Saint Thomas. The destination is filled with opportunities for adventure, learning and world-class dining. Searches for flights, hotels and vacations in Saint Thomas saw a 77.03% increase in 2021 compared to 2020!

• In second place is Toronto. With travel restrictions imposed on most international arrivals across the world, it’s no surprise to see more Americans vacationing closer to home. Compared to 2020, there have been 45.88% more searches this year for flights, hotels, and vacations in Toronto!

• Puerto Rico is the most popular country/territory for Americans searching for vacations with 1.6 million searches in the last 6 months.

British-based ParkSleepFly packages airport parking and hotel stays in destinations around the world.