HOUSTON – Texans love Texas. They love it so much that, according to a popular travel website, when Texans travel, they often stay in the Lone Star State.
"We drove all the way," said 5-year-old Tony Perez, referring to the drive from his home in Austin to the family vacation in Houston. "We're far away from home."
While the three-hour drive may seem like an eternity for a 5-year-old, his mother said that Houston's proximity to Austin is exactly why she chose it for her family's annual summer trip.
"We have a family of five," Casey Boesenberg-Perez said. "We also take our nieces and our parents come with us, too -- all of us. So, we just find a place for everyone to stay in one area and we all travel together. "
An analysis by USA Today of hotwire's data shows traveling within the state is a popular choice among Texans. According to hotwire.com, the people who most commonly stay in Houston hotels are from Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. The same goes for those cities. Houstonians most often visit Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
Boesenberg-Perez said that the reason is cost.
"We have so many children," Boesenberg-Perez said. "So it's just better financially for us to stay local, instead of going so far. Plus, they like the beach and that's fun for (the children)."
On a hot summer day, the final destination is a little farther down the coast.
"We're going to Galveston," Boesenberg-Perez said. "We're travelling through, so we're going to stay in Galveston. But we'll probably head back to Houston to do quite a few things."
New Orleans and Chicago were the two non-Texas cities that had the most people booking a Houston hotel last year, according to a hotwire.com representative.