The Orbitz Holiday Travel Insider Index analyzed hotel and flight booking data from its website to rank the most popular holidays destinations for 2012. The study provides the top 10 holiday destinations for Christmas and New Year's, evaluating the average airfare and daily hotel rates in each of the most popular markets.

Airfares have risen all year, mainly due to higher fuel prices and airlines offering fewer seats for sale by flying smaller aircraft. (Read more: Fliers Pinched as Airfares Take Off)

The travel period studied were December 23-27 for Christmas and December 30-January 2 for New Year's.