We recently compiled a detailed report on the 25 Most Beautiful States in the US. But in this article, we will look at the most beautiful state in the US.
America’s Topography: An Overview
The United States of America has one of the most diverse topographies in the world, with its landscape dotted with fertile grasslands, snow-covered mountains, arid deserts, and glistening water bodies. With an area of about 9.53 million square kilometers, it is the fourth largest country in the world by area, standing behind Canada, Russia, and China. That makes the US more than 39 times the size of the UK. Due to its large area, the country has a wide spectrum of climates, ranging from snow-packed Alaska to hot and sunny Florida. The USA’s northern wing has a predominantly arctic climate all year round, but its interior has a subtropical to continental climate. However, since the country does not have a continuous mountain range other than the Rocky Mountains, it is not uncommon for the cold Arctic air to blow southwards, affecting otherwise warm states such as Florida and Texas, especially in the winter.
Encompassing 50 partly sovereign states, the country boasts numerous geographical zones. Its location between oceans grants it a 19,924-kilometer coastline, along with 18,617 islands (some of which are sparsely or partly inhabited). Around 83% of the country’s total population of approximately 334.91 million is concentrated in urban centers.
Travel and Tourism in the USA
Due to its diverse geographical landscapes and climate, the country is a popular tourist destination for not just foreigners but its own residents as well. While the travel industry tumbled after losing 75% of its value in 2020, it is on the way to completely recovering by the end of 2024. Although much of the boost in the sector is caused by “revenge travel,” or people making international trips that were delayed by the pandemic, domestic travel is also making a comeback. In fact, domestic travel in the country is expected to account for nearly 70% of the total travel spending by 2030.
Apart from its natural beauty, diverse landscapes, and cultural richness, the US boasts a strong infrastructure supporting travel and tourism, which also bolsters spending power. According to the travel forecast released by the United States Travel Association (USTA), the US received around 79.4 million international visitors in 2019 (before the pandemic) and spent around $180 billion. This generated an economic output of around $2 trillion. To put these numbers into perspective, France, the most visited country in the world, received 90 million visitors in the same year, generating around $61 billion in revenue from international tourism. Although the USA’s international visitors revenue generation has become volatile after the pandemic, it is expected to rise to its pre-pandemic level by 2025. You can also look at 25 Cheap Places to Travel in the U.S. with Beaches for more insight.
Where Does Technology Come In?
Technology has eased travel and allowed access to hidden gems in the US, with several travel applications allowing users to plan their trips with a few clicks. One of the most prominent examples is Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG), which ranks among the world’s largest online travel and related services providers. It offers online travel services in more than 220 countries through its brands, which include Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable. In its Q2 2024 financial results, the company reported a total revenue of $5.9 billion, up 7% year over year. Gross travel bookings reached $5.9 billion, up 4% year over year.
One of the primary reasons behind the company’s strong Q2 results is its increasing use of artificial intelligence in its platforms. Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) offers its users the AI Trip Planner which recommends accommodation and destination options to users. Based on the company’s existing machine learning models, the travel planner works with the technological aid of Open AI’s ChatGPT and allows travelers to ask general travel-related questions, refine their real-time searches, and ask for suggestions. The tool also offers information and tips regarding potential travel destinations, giving users different routes, travel, and accommodation options for a particular region, country, or city. The AI Trip Planner has thus streamlined travel for its users, irrespective of how popular or remote their potential destination may be.
Now that we have taken an overview of the topography and tourism industry of the US, let’s look at the most beautiful state in the US. For more insight, you can look at 15 Best AI Travel Apps for Vacationing in 2024 and 20 Best Places for Adventure Travel in the World.
The Most Beautiful State in the US
Our Methodology
To compile a list of the 25 most beautiful states in the US, we used a consensus approach and a visitor survey through Reddit. Firstly, we consulted ten online expert resources to compile a list of the 40 most beautiful states in the US. Next, we looked at ten Reddit threads that asked commenters to mention the most beautiful states they had visited in the United States. We only chose threads that had more than 100 comments and studied more than 1,500 comments to shortlist the states with the most recommendations by Reddit users. We then counted the number of upvotes on each comment and chose the top 25 states with the most number of upvotes. The 25 most beautiful states in the US are arranged in ascending order of their number of upvotes on Reddit.
Note: This list is not exhaustive and does not reflect our opinion. The ranking is solely based on the opinions of mass consumers on Reddit.
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The Most Beautiful State in the US
1. California
Number of Reddit Upvotes: 1567
California ranks first on our list of the 25 most beautiful states in the US, with the most number of Reddit upvotes: 1567. The state boasts the most national parks in the US, encompassing nine of the total 63 in the country. It also contains 8,008 named mountains, accounting for around 11% of the total mountains in the country. California’s natural beauty remains unmatched because of the sheer diversity of its landscape, which ranges from rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park to poppy blooms in Antelope Valley to the arid desert valley of the Death Valley National Park.
Curious to see which other states in the US are ranked the most beautiful? Read our detailed report on the 25 Most Beautiful States in the US.
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