three travel trends we're seeing

We’ve spent the first few weeks of the new year booking lots of travel for our clients, and thinking about key takeaways from the past year — the first year where we felt like we could say we were truly on the other side of the pandemic.

Here’s what we’re seeing.

People were still back to basics last year, but that’s changing.

Last year was the second year in a row where we saw record numbers of travelers sticking to destinations they know and love. We sent a lot of people to London and Paris. Italy was popular, but mostly the Rome-Florence-Venice triangle. Cruises to Greek isles were very popular.

What we didn’t see much of? Travel to the next tier of destinations in Europe. Croatia, Germany, Spain, and Scandinavia weren’t attracting as much interest from our clients in 2023, And the off-the-beaten-path destinations in Italy were far from crowded. The hidden gems like Puglia in Italy and the Lot Valley in France stayed hidden, for the most part.

Get off the beaten path on an authentic, immersive small group tour with our partners at G Adventures.

There were exceptions — Portugal and Switzerland bucked the trend. And Japan — one of the last countries to open to tourism post-pandemic — was absolutely bananas. But for the most part, it was a lot of London and Paris, and not so much Edinburgh and Prague.

When we look at what we’re booking for this year, however, we see a lot more diversity in our destinations. We’re getting lots of requests for Sardinia — a destination no one was asking about in 2022, and few requested last year. We’ve suddenly gotten multiple requests for The Philippines. People are going back to Australia and New Zealand again. And we’re fielding requests for safaris again.

This is a good thing — it means the powerhouse destinations in Europe might be a little less crowded next year, and it means that rest of the world will get the economic boost from tourism’s return.

Hotels are more expensive, and people are spending more.

It’s getting harder and harder to find a really nice hotel room for less than 200 bucks in most places. Hotels are pricing out nearly twice as expensive as they were prior to the pandemic. And people are staying there, anyway. It’s been a long time since a client told us, “I just want clean and comfortable in a good location. I’m not going to spend time in my room anyway.” Instead, our clients are asking about atmosphere, amenities, and service.

We hear you. We love a really nice hotel room. There’s something special — and dare we say sexy — about walking into a hotel room that wows you. One where you immediately say, “this is niiiiiiice” and pull out your camera to take pictures to send to your friends.

A suite terrace at Coquillade Provence, a Virtuoso Preview Property, in one of our hotel programs.

Fortunately, we can deliver those hotel experiences, and maximize the value at the same time. Our hotel programs like the Virtuoso “Best of the Best” Program and Hyatt Privé give us room upgrades, resort spending credits, free breakfasts (and we do love an amazing hotel breakfast), wi-fi, and more. We recently booked clients at a luxury resort property in Provence, and not only did they get our amenities, the property also added a “third-night free” promotion that saved our clients 1200€. (Yes. The room rate was expensive. But if you saw this place… you’d understand the impulse to splurge.)

Save room in your budget for next year’s festive season — and plan ahead if you want a beach.

We met with hundreds of hoteliers, tour operators, cruise lines and airline reps last year. That’s not even hyperbole. We spend a lot of time talking to them about what they’re seeing, and one of the things that surprised us was that the holiday season was really lopsided. Europe was a relative bargain. We had one luxury hotel in Europe offering 40% off of room rates for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. One of our supplier partners said that so many people spent more than ever on their summer European vacations, and decided to scale back their festive season plans.

That meant staying closer to home, for the holidays and the luxury resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean were very full. People who didn’t plan ahead for a holiday beach vacation, didn’t have a lot of options by the time October rolled around.

We think we’ll see something similar this year — If you want to be on a warm beach, plan early. If you’re looking for a bargain — European Christmas markets and off-season Europe will be a much better value. And don’t forget the shoulder season — the heat wave in Europe last summer made sightseeing virtually impossible for days at a time. For better weather, think about spring and autumn travel.

Ready for your next adventure?

Start planning now! We’re here to help if you’d like to talk to us about your next trip.