Italy-a perennial favorite with travelers-has once again captured the number one slot on a list of top destinations, this time as the 2018 leading luxury destination in a Travel Leaders Group survey of its agents.

Just over 34 percent of the luxury experts polled named Italy as the leading vacation spot in 2018. It was followed by Europe river cruises, chosen by 22 percent of agents, and Mediterranean cruises, by 18 percent of agents.

The findings, part of Travel Leaders Group's 2017 Fall Travel Trends Survey, are based on responses from 1,107 agents from the flagship Travel Leaders brand plus agents affiliated with Travel Leaders Group's Cruise Specialists, Nexion, Protravel International, Tzell Travel, and Travel Leaders Corporate.

Rounding out the top ten luxury destinations for 2018 are the U.S., Ireland, Australia, Mexico, Caribbean Cruises, France and Iceland.

The survey also found an increase in luxury bookings with a whopping 92.6 percent of agents reporting bookings higher than or on a par with this time in 2016. That's a significant increase from the 84 percent of agents who said the same thing last year.

"Given the strong U.S. economy, it's no surprise that our agents are seeing a higher level of luxury bookings compared to last year," said Travel Leaders Group CEO Ninan Chacko. "Some people are scaling up their vacations to include high-end accommodations and exclusive experiences and others are simply taking more trips because of their confidence in the economy."

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