The big trends for travel in 2024
Booking sites, airline aggregators and online accommodation agencies have been analysing data in a bid to predict next year’s hot spots.
’Tis the season for trend reports, a colleague remarked the other day. And she’s right. Everyone from Expedia and Booking.com to Skyscanner and Stayz has been gazing into their crystal ball and analysing data in a bid to predict the next big things in travel. Some of their forecasts have been expected, others surprising, but they all have a catchy label designed to grab attention.
Let’s start with the “destination dupe”. No, it’s not when you book an airline ticket only to discover the flight was cancelled before you even paid. This term refers to alternative locations where travellers can avoid the overcrowding and cost of more popular spots. Think Paros instead of Santorini, Taipei rather than Seoul, Perth in place of Sydney.
I’d never heard of niche travel group the “mindful aesthete”. These are people who carefully consider their choice of accommodation, wanting something comfortable but clever, stylish but sustainable. A ban on single-use plastics is not going to cut it with this lot.
Then there’s the “dry-tripper”, a person who’s looking to extend “dry July” to year-round alcohol-free travel. They’re the reason your minibar is filled with organic juices and hyperlocal softies instead of beer and champers.
One article I read told of the rise of “agents of influence” – social media influencers who have ventured beyond picture-perfect Insta and TikTok reels showing bikini-perfect bottoms bobbing through a flotilla of manta-rays. Now they’re actually hosting trips (and perhaps workshops on how to stage the ideal shot of yourself strolling along a boardwalk in the Maldives in a swathe of crushed linen).
If you like to explore places you’ve seen on TV, then you’re a “set-jetter”. You’ve popped into the Place de l’Estrapade (Emily in Paris), strolled the streets of Noto in Sicily plus the beaches of Maui (The White Lotus), and you may be considering returning to New York following the death of Friends star Matthew Perry. Where next? The third season of The White Lotus is sure to spark interest in Thailand. Personally, I have Saint Malo on France’s Brittany coast on my list (All the Light We Cannot See).
But let’s get down to business. Where do Australians actually want to go? According to Skyscanner, Japan tops the popularity stakes, with Osaka attracting a 455 per cent increase in searches compared with last year. Sapporo (No.3) and Tokyo (No.5) also make the cut. After a few years out in the cold, China is back on the agenda, with Chengdu at No.2 and Beijing (No.4). The top 10 list rounds out with, in descending order, Krabi in Thailand, Taipei, New Caledonia, Cebu and Ho Chi Minh City.
Given 35 per cent of the population have reportedly budgeted to spend more on travel in 2024 compared to this year, they might just get there.