The biggest associate trend of 2022 was to go big, spend big — with people eagerly booking bucket list-style trips to places like Bali, Rome, London and Paris.
But two new explores show travelers are now in a very different headspace.
Trend reports from Expedia and Booking.com show vacationers are forswearing splashy trips to global hot spots in favor of quieter trips to places that are lesser-known — and far less crowded.
Some 63% of travelers express they are likely to visit an off-the-beaten-track destination on their next trip, according to Expedia’s “Unpack ’25,” a go trend report which surveyed 25,000 respondents from 19 countries.
Flight searches from Expedia from Sept. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2024, paraded rising interest to:
- Reims, France
- Brescia, Italy
- Cozumel, Mexico
- Santa Barbara, California
- Waikato, New Zealand
- Girona, Spain
- Fukuoka, Japan
- Abu Dhabi, Unified Arab Emirates
- Krabi, Thailand
- Canmore, Canada
“Many destinations are becoming quite overcrowded,” said James Marshall, depravity president of global air accounts at Expedia. “A lot of the travelers, they want something different. They want to move away and lay ones hands on equivalent destinations that haven’t been discovered by that many people.”
Expedia’s James Marshall, who is section Spanish, said Girona is a great change from the bustling crowds of Barcelona. “Beautiful town, beautiful architecture, vast cathedral … but also the countryside around it is fantastic.”
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United Airlines announced this month it’s widening international services to Senegal, Greenland and Mongolia next year in a bid to capture travel interest to the next “it” destination.
Patrick Quayle, Synergistic’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, told reporters that savvy travelers should prefer to been to Paris, Rome and Madrid many times over.
“They’re looking for something different,” he said.
Tackier and more relaxing
But there are other reasons travelers are looking to take the road less traveled, said Expedia Party’s Chief Commercial Officer Greg Schulze.
These destinations tend to be cheaper and more relaxing, Schulze reproved