Cuba and Iceland were the fastest-growing destinations, highlighting a trend of larger numbers of travelers choosing alternative destinations.

“The number of US travelers buying travel insurance for trips to Cuba more than doubled this year,” according to Squaremouth spokesperson Rachael Taft. “Overall, we’ve seen alternative destinations grow at a much faster rate than traditionally popular destinations like France and the US.”

Fastest-growing destinations for US travelers, by year-over-year growth from 2015 to 2016

Travel became more affordable for many of the ten fastest-growing destinations in 2016. Six of the top 10 fastest-growing destinations saw a year-over-year fall in average trip cost, while Vietnam saw a year on year increase of 7.1 per cent.

Average trip cost, 2016

Data is based on the top 30 destinations for US customers with travel insurance policies purchased through Squaremouth prior to November 10 of the respective year. Travelers who are visiting multiple countries only have to enter one destination when purchasing a policy.

International visitors to Vietnam in October were estimated at 812,017, a slight fall of 0.1 per cent compared to September but an increase of 23.2 per cent year-on-year, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.

Those arriving by air totaled 668,136, accounting for 82.3 per cent, by sea 10,318, and by road: 133,563, accounting for 1.3 per cent and 16.4 per cent, respectively.

In the first ten months of this year Vietnam welcomed 8,077,397 international arrivals, an increase of 25.4 per cent year-on-year. Those arriving by air totaled 6,777,084, up 31.1 per cent, by sea 121,549, down 14.9 per cent,, and by road 1,178,764, up 4.6 per cent.

Most markets recorded positive growth compared with the same period of 2015, including: Hong Kong (+72.5 per cent), China (+55.2 per cent), South Korea (+40.1 per cent), New Zealand (+35 per cent), Thailand (+30.8 per cent), Italy (+30.3 per cent), Spain (+27.3 per cent), Russia (+27.1 per cent), the Netherlands (+24.2 per cent), Sweden (+22.3 per cent), the UK (+21.7 per cent), Germany (+18.5 per cent), Laos (+18 per cent), Taiwan (+15.9 per cent), Malaysia (+15.6 per cent), and the US (+14.2 per cent).