Survey: Newport, Block Island among top summer destinations

NEW ENGLANDERS RANKED WATERFIRE PROVIDENCE the summer event they were most likely to attend, along with Maine's Winter Harbor Lobster Festival, according to a survey conducted by Irving Oil. / PHOTO COURTESY WATERFIRE/LUIS ANDRADE
NEW ENGLANDERS RANKED WATERFIRE PROVIDENCE the summer event they were most likely to attend, along with Maine's Winter Harbor Lobster Festival, according to a survey conducted by Irving Oil. / PHOTO COURTESY WATERFIRE/LUIS ANDRADE

PROVIDENCE – A survey of New Englanders ranked Newport and Block Island among the top 10 destinations to visit in the last weeks of summer, and WaterFire and the Rhode Island International Film Festival among the top summer activities.
Conducted by Irving Oil in New Brunswick, Canada, 400 residents of the region were polled online between Aug. 4 and 6 to determine the top 10 New England destinations that they might visit in August or over Labor Day weekend. The survey also asked what summer events they were most likely to attend.
WaterFire tied with Maine’s Winter Harbor Lobster Festival for first place, while the film festival, held earlier this month, was sixth.
The top travel destination is Cape Cod, according to Irving’s “Pump Up the Fun Summer Survey,” part of a retail promotion running until Sept. 7. Respondents were asked to choose among 10 destinations, providing they could visit only one. Thirty-four percent chose Cape Cod beaches, while Mystic, Conn., was second at 26 percent and Newport, third, with 23 percent of the vote.
Rounding out the top 10 were: Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H.; White Mountains, N.H.; Block Island; Nantucket, Mass.; Acadia National Park, Maine; Lake Champlain, Burlington, Vt.; and Smuggler’s Notch, Stowe, Vt.
Participants also were given a list of summer activities to choose from, imagining they could only do one, according to information from the company.
Asked to choose “the most fun thing to do” as part of summer vacation, respondents chose going to the beach (25 percent), followed by camping (15 percent), water parks (11 percent), staying home (10.5 percent), hiking (9.5 percent), kayaking (7.5 percent), fishing (6.25 percent), gondola rides/alpine slides (6.25 percent), sailing (5.5 percent) and biking (3.5 percent).

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