Expedia Group recently unveiled ‘Unpack ‘24,’ which is a look at travel trends we can expect to see in the upcoming year. One of the best travel tips is to stay on top of current trends, and this report will help you do just that.
The report from Expedia includes eight must-know travel trends for 2024 and discusses everything from the top destinations to the best occasions for planning a trip. Referencing this report when planning your 2024 vacations wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Expedia’s travel trends report
Expedia’s ‘Unpack ‘24’ report uses the company’s first-party travel data as well as a consumer survey of 20,000 travelers to determine the trends that will dominate in 2024. The report aims to give travelers a head start when booking their travel plans for the New Year.
“At Expedia Group, we have extensive first-party travel data that we use to enhance and curate experiences for our travelers across Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. These insights shape our travel forecasts, revealed in Unpack ’24, enabling our travelers to be the first to discover and book the most desired trips before they become well-beaten paths,” said Jon Gieselman, President of Expedia Brands.
Set-jetting
Set-jetting is the idea that TV shows and movies greatly influence where people are vacationing. From the exotic locations in The White Lotus to the historic places in The Crown, people are getting their vacation inspiration from popular media. In fact, more than half of travelers say they’ve researched or booked a trip to a destination after seeing it on a television show or a movie.
According to the report, these are the top set-jetting destinations to keep an eye on for travel in 2024:
- Thailand: as seen in The White Lotus
- Romania: as seen in Wednesday
- Malta: as seen in Gladiator 2
- Paris: as seen in Emily in Paris
- Scottish Highlands: as seen in Outlander
- London, Bath and Windsor, UK: as seen in Bridgerton and The Crown
- South Korea: as seen in Squid Game
- Florida Keys: as seen in Bad Monkey
- Australia: as seen in Faraway Downs and Furiosa
- Greece: as seen in Argylle and My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
Destination dupes
Some of the world’s most popular travel destinations are incredibly expensive. Because of this, 2024 is set to see an increase of “destination dupes.” These dupes are more affordable alternatives to well-known cities that may be too expensive to travel to on a budget.
These destinations are similar to their more expensive counterparts, but are often less crowded, offering a more authentic experience.
Expedia lists the 2024’s most popular travel dupes as:
- Taipei as an alternative to Seoul
- Pattaya as an alternative to Bangkok
- Paros as an alternative to Santorini
- Curacao as an alternative to Saint Martin
- Perth as an alternative to Sydney
- Liverpool as an alternative to London
- Quebec City as an alternative to Geneva
- Sapporo as an alternative to Zermatt
- Memphis as an alternative to Nashville
Tour tourism
2023 saw some of the biggest musical tours of the century (hello, Taylor Swift), and this trend is only set to continue in 2024. Expedia predicts “tour tourism” to increase in 2024, with nearly 70% of travelers saying that they are more likely than ever to travel to a concert outside of their hometown.
Many concert-goers are using a show as an excuse to explore a town or city, while others decide to travel because they find cheaper tickets for a show in another state or country.
According to Expedia, these are the 10 most popular cities for artists to tour where travelers can find cheap accommodation (less than $150 per night):
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Edmonton, Canada
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Warsaw, Poland
- Birmingham, UK
- Houston, Texas
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Tokyo Japan
- Perth, Australia
- Detroit, Michigan
Dry tripping
“Dry tripping” is the idea of taking a trip where you will be completely sober. More than 40% of the travelers polled by Expedia say that they are likely to book a detox trip in the next year. This involves staying at places that prioritize health and wellness and provide high-quality, alcohol-free drink options.
Go-ccasions
In 2024, it is expected that people will travel for out-of-the-ordinary reasons. In Vrbo’s research, it was shown that travelers plan to take more trips than ever in 2024, and they would be happy to book a trip to celebrate small achievements such as retirement, a pet’s birthday, or a first-date anniversary.
These are 2024’s top “go-cassions” as identified by Vrbo:
- Celebrating the anniversary of a first date
- Celebrating a pet’s adoption or birthday
- Cooking and eating a meaningful meal together
- Watching a major event on TV together
- Getting a new job or quitting an old one, celebrating a retirement or promotion
Which travel trends will you take part in this year?
Whether you are making a trip out of a Taylor Swift concert, set-jetting to the set of The White Lotus, or celebrating your pet’s birthday, 2024 is officially the year of travel. These travel trends are already taking off, so make sure you book your trips as soon as you can!
