SINGAPORE, 16 October 2025: “The future of travel is curated, considered and cleverer than ever before,” Skyscanner, a global leader in travel, has unveiled its Travel Trends 2026 report.
Looking forward, Skyscanner’s Travel Trends forecast for 2026 notes that 81% of the survey audience intend to go abroad as much, or more, in 2026 when compared with 2025. Travellers will be stretching their budgets to make room for richer, more rewarding experiences.
Best Places to Visit 2026 – Trending Destinations | Skyscanner
AI is set to shift from an assistant to an agentic role, where multiple systems work together to solve complex traveller needs, from trip inspiration to in-the-moment support. It’s not just an evolution – it’s a whole new operating system for travel.
Social and search are now the go-to tools for inspiration, research and planning. As search grows smarter, social platforms are reshaping the inspiration phase by surfacing trending spots, niche experiences and recommendations in a way that feels personal and fun.
Skyscanner points to the growing number of travellers who intend to dodge the crowds and peak seasons, as over-tourism is felt in many parts of the world.
Still, old habits linger. Three in five travellers (60%) revisit the same destinations for at least 20% of their holidays, often because they don’t know where else to go.
Released earlier this week, the report identifies seven key trends which will define travellers’ behaviour in the coming year and outlines the significant trends shaping the future of travel.
2026: Seven travel trends to keep an eye on
Glowmads (The Beauty Trend): Beauty rituals will shape how — not just where — we travel.
Shelf Discovery (The Food Trend): Culinary tourism is swapping restaurant reservations for supermarket safaris.
Altitude Shift (The Mountain Trend): From snow to stillness, travellers are chasing year-round alpine escapes.
Bookbound (The Literature Trend): Writing new chapters on how to escape, reconnect and restore.
Catching Flights and Feelings (The Solo Trend): Meeting matches, mates and maybes on the move.
Family Miles (The Family Trend): Multi-gen trips and family memory-making are on the rise.
Destination Check-in (The Hotel Trend): Hotels are the main event, shaping where and why we travel.
Skyscanner’s 2026 Travel Trends report combines Skyscanner’s own data with global consumer research and insights from renowned brands including Reddit, Malin and Goetz, All Trails and Penguin Books to identify the seven trends shaping travel in 2026.
2026: Best value destinations
The report also reveals the top trending and best value destinations for the coming year. Of the total of over 20,000 respondents across the globe, 7,000 respondents were surveyed across APAC Countries — Australia, India, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
For the top trending destinations in 2026, visit Best Places to Visit 2026 – Trending Destinations | Skyscanner.
Skyscanner CEO Bryan Batista said: “Skyscanner’s 2026 Travel Trends report shows how travel is about to get more personal than ever. Whether it’s building a trip around a must-stay ‘destination hotel’, getting lost in a new favourite book on a reading retreat, incorporating a beauty routine into their travel itinerary or bringing the whole family along for the journey, travel will become more curated, grounded and unique.”
About Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a leading global travel app that helps travellers plan and book their trips with ease and confidence. Every month, Skyscanner connects millions of travellers across 180 countries and 37 languages to more than 1200 travel partners. Founded in 2003, Skyscanner has offices worldwide, in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America.
