Like clockwork, the turn of the year is a time to look ahead at what the next 12 months will bring.
With a new calendar to fill, we can expect a fresh crop of trends shaping everything from far-flung island idylls to cheeky weekend city breaks. Even after a decade writing about travel, the twists and developments still astonish.
Over recent years, astrotourism and trips fuelled by what people are seeing in TV shows and films are trends that have come true.
I’m also exasperated each year by the onslaught of portmanteaus created by travel firms to describe their trends, which I am happy to report have, in general, been reined in this year (I’m sorry, but I refuse to utter ‘baecation’ when I mean a couple’s holiday). To misquote a well-known saying, ‘predictions are incredibly difficult, especially about the future’.
But here I am, having researched what the tastemakers and big players in travel are reporting. These are the trends – plus a few terms I despise – that will influence our holiday plans for 2026 and beyond.
Travelling for tales
Racontourism is a ghastly neologism, I’m sure you’ll agree, merging raconteur with tourism, but it’s a sharp trend that will grow in 2026.
The trophies for travellers will be the tales they can tell when home. It’s a revival, if you like, of the flowery accounts sent home by those on their European ‘grand tours’ in the 17th and 18th centuries. ‘We’ve seen a rise in clients travelling for storytelling – whether that’s for dinner party anecdotes, “braggability” or for their memoirs,’ says Tom Barber, co-founder of tour operator Original Travel, who coined the term.
Identikit itineraries don’t hit the spot for many travellers, who want secret suppers or off-grid adventures – it’s all about the bragging rights.
Clocking off
The popularity of a micro-retirement – a mid-career pause in which to go exploring, a new entry to the lexicon and shortlisted as Collins’ 2025 Word Of The Year – is likely to grow over the next 12 months. Searches for the term spiked in November 2025, a sure signal of rebellion against rigid timelines.
It’s driven by Gen Z and Millennials, says holiday house provider Kate & Tom’s, groups that have a keen awareness of work-life balance – especially the concept of burnout – and an uncertainty around retirement plans.
So it’s all about taking that sabbatical while your energy (and knees) hold out, and bringing those dream trips forward.
Wellness waves
Wellness will evolve into ‘neurosurfing’ in the new year according to British Airways Holidays, which means breaks designed to tune into our brainwave states
Cognitive health is the new frontier, so forget doing nothing to find true rest. In 2026, wellness evolves into ‘neurosurfing’, according to British Airways Holidays. That means breaks designed to tune in to our brainwave states and deliver what BA calls ‘high-impact relaxation’.
It’s one way to tackle a crisis of exhaustion – according to a recent YouGov survey, sleep deprivation trumps social media as Brits’ top mental disruptor.
So an old-new combo of yoga and meditation with biohacks (brain games, developmental drawings and binaural beats) are designed to invoke specific relaxation brainwaves.
Hotels have already got in on the act: Guests at Palazzo Fiuggi, in Italy, can ‘neurosurf’ through calming frequencies during hikes and cooking classes. The science might not be easy but a simple massage just doesn’t cut it anymore when you need that direct jolt to the synapses.
Sound of silence
Hotel giant Hilton may have given this the wince-inducing moniker of ‘hush-pitality’ (the breaks have also been called ‘quietcations’), but in their research the trend holds water: in 2026, silence is golden.
Every day, we’re battered by pings and alerts, so a real status symbol is being somewhere that sees very little happen at all.
Forecasting from Booking.com backs up the growing appetite for quietude. The accommodation behemoth says one in five are opting for ‘quieter’ pursuits, while 41 per cent would travel specifically to feel closer to the natural world – with no more noise than a dawn chorus, one would hope.
And with this calm comes slow-burn hobbies: birdwatching, fishing and foraging are on the up (more than half would consider moth-spotting). It’s an antidote to modern life… shhhhhh.
Women seeking connection…
Women-only travel is becoming more popular, with holiday company Responsible Travel seeing a 28 per cent year-on-year growth in interest
Women-only travel has been trending upwards for a number of years. Holiday company Responsible Travel has seen a 28 per cent year-on-year growth in interest. They’re going beyond just holidays and in many cases have evolved into purposeful pilgrimages.
In fact, the trend has somewhat matured, going beyond merely single-sex groups and instead promising connections and in-depth itineraries – so no superficial sisterhood here.
‘Think tours designed to foster connection and understanding between female travellers and their local counterparts, experiences which support women entrepreneurs or partner with marginalised women, and that celebrate women’s cultural identities,’ says Tim Williamson, joint-managing director at the British travel firm.
…But alone time for men?
While women are increasingly travelling for connection, men are seeking the opposite.
The travel comparison and booking site Omio found in their annual report that more men are now looking to escape on a solo break in an effort to ‘disconnect from their busy lives’. Elsewhere, bookings made using Skyscanner’s ‘solo’ filter surged by 83 per cent compared to last year.
Supermarket sweep
There have been hundreds of thousands of posts made on TikTok about trying food from foreign supermarkets, including Japanese matcha KitKats
Move over Michelin stars, culinary tourism is now found under the fluorescent lights of a supermarket. ‘Eating like a local’ means raiding the shelves for authentic local snacks – these humble haunts deliver cultural immersion on a budget. According to Skyscanner’s annual report, nearly three-quarters of UK travellers make supermarkets an important stop on their holidays and TikTok agrees: the platform has seen hundreds of thousands of posts on the subject.
It could be anything from a matcha KitKat in Japan to the various Fanta flavours across the globe. One fan on the Daily Mail’s travel desk, Jowena Riley, admits she likes to hunt down exotic flavours of crisps (next on her hit list: Thai curry-flavour ‘Explosions’ from Belgian brand Croky). In 2026, the snack aisle is the new souvenir shop.
Ditching decisions
Aren’t holidays supposed to help you switch off? Nowadays there’s so much prep – setting price alerts for bargain flights, plotting itineraries, choosing restaurants that please the fussiest eaters – that it can be an endurance test.
That’s where fully curated ‘digital detoxes’ come in – leaving all the decision-making in someone else’s hands once you’ve checked in. Resorts such as BodyHoliday in St Lucia sell the promise: ‘Give us your body for a week and we’ll give you back your mind.’
It’s not a holiday in handcuffs but an escape from never-ending micro-decisions that can burden everyday life (and creep into time away). ‘We’re seeing a clear shift away from travellers wanting to control every detail of their holiday plans,’ says Jools Sampson, founder of Reclaim Yourself Retreats. ‘The rise of decision fatigue, coupled with the constant presence of tech in our lives, means people no longer want to spend their precious time off buried in logistics.’
In the family
Multi-generational travel is growing – and not just as a savvy way to split the bill. Yes, the financial aspect is a consideration – one in four Gen Z adults cite cost-sharing as their main reason for travelling with family, according to Skyscanner – but research shows it’s also about reclaiming time together.
And this is even the case in situations where younger people are living at home for longer. ‘Driven by a desire for deeper connection, away from the daily routines and digital distractions, family miles are gaining traction, despite an increased proximity at home,’ says psychologist Lee Chambers. ‘Exploring together beyond the familiar four walls expands horizons and generates authentic opportunity to share stories and memories across generations.’
According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), families with older children are now travelling abroad more frequently than those with younger kids, signalling a shift toward ‘family holidays 2.0’. And splitting the bill is definitely a plus.
Back to the future
In the next 12 months we’ll see how nostalgia becomes something you can physically step back into. Thanks to AI-powered photo mapping and heritage-tracing platforms, memories are turning into itineraries: old snapshots pinpointed to exact locations, ready to be revisited in real life.
Booking.com research shows more than two-thirds of Britons say they’d consider recreating a past moment by travelling to where a photo was taken, often to share it with family or close friends.
Others are chasing places that make them feel young, grounded or at home. These trips aren’t about escapism so much as reflection – marking milestones, reconnecting with people from the past, or even finding closure.
34 and under
If you want to see what’s in vogue, keep your eyes on those aged 25 to 34 – the ‘travel trendsetters’, as ABTA calls them.
It’s the generation taking more trips, spending more and shaping travel for everyone else. Around five in six plan to go overseas in the next year and they’re averaging 5.5 holidays annually.
For this cohort, holidays aren’t just a break; they’re an absolute priority.
ABTA’s research reveals 83 per cent say getting away is the most important time of year, while 90 per cent cite the mental health benefits.
Cruises are popular among this age group, with 19 per cent taking one in the past 12 months – more than any other age group, including the over 65s (16 per cent).
Running goes rural
As running soars in popularity (there are around nine to ten million regular runners in the UK, according to industry figures), it’s creeping into holidays, too. People are ditching dirty city loops for countryside dashes: scenic trails, crisp air, proper catch-ups with mates.
Research from short-term rentals platform Airbnb and Strava, the popular fitness app, shows it’s being led by younger runners, with 74 per cent of those aged 18 to 29 admitting they’ve planned or are plotting a pastoral escape. And it follows a 2025 trend of ‘workout holidays’, where recreational sports and health goals are factored into travel plans.
But for many, the appeal of the (brace yourself) ‘rural runcation’ isn’t about chasing personal bests, say Airbnb and Strava. Instead it’s about ‘switching off and soaking up nature, whilst being active and connecting with others’.
And, I imagine, it’s even sweeter if there’s a nice country pub to hole up in after a few kilometres.
On the rails
Japan’s bullet train is a travel experience which tops many tourists’ bucket lists and takes in scenery including Mount Fuji
The rails will be roaring back in 2026, as travellers ditch short-haul flights for the seductive slow motion delights of train travel.
Carbon footprint aside, it’s about savouring the scenery unspooling like a film reel – making the journey the destination.
Explore Worldwide reports bookings up 25 per cent year-on-year, with a whopping 77 per cent spike in recent weeks.
Hot tickets include Japan by train, Venice-Rome-Amalfi and Kolkata to Amritsar.
‘There is no better way to escape the maelstrom of modern life than on a long train ride,’ says Tom Chesshyre, Daily Mail travel contributor and author of Ticket to Ride: Around The World On 49 Unusual Train Journeys. ‘Seeing landscapes go by from a carriage window is a joy and there’s a delicious simplicity to it too: you go from A to B and let the train take the strain, as the old British Rail adverts said.’
Travel bots
Artificial intelligence will not be denied – including in the travelsphere. And with its use as a digital concierge, sniffing out deals and suggesting itineraries, it’s starting to resemble the modern travellers’ co-pilot.
Forbes, Skift and Booking.com predict 2026 as the tipping point, as AI shifts from chatty helper to proactive planner, blending preferences with real-time data for seamless, predictive adventures.
Kristi Gole from Global Hotel Alliance, a body of more than 50 hotel brands, says that AI frees up staff to focus on the ‘high-touch, better-as-human interactions’, adding ‘the challenges are to keep the human element in the mix and not over-automate’.
For now, human touch persists, but algorithms are definitely creeping into the mix.
Sporting spectacle
In 2026, it’s no longer enough to chase stadium lights and souvenir scarves – holidaymakers want to feel woven into the local fabric. The ‘fan voyage’ trend, identified by Expedia, sees travellers throwing themselves into regional sporting experiences in the destination they’re visiting.
It could be the quirky chaos of Banana Ball in Savannah, Georgia, the drama of sumo in Japan or the power of caber tossing in the Scottish Highlands.
Sport becomes a gateway to place. In 2026, the smartest trips won’t just show you where people live – they’ll show you what they cheer for.
Bookbound
We’ve had setjetting – where people visit the filming locations from popular films and TV shows, such as The White Lotus (Hawaii, Sicily, Thailand) – but now we’re moving from screen to page.
Skyscanner reports that more than half (57 per cent) of those surveyed have arranged or would consider a book-inspired trip, while holiday rentals platform Vrbo say a whopping 91 per cent of customers are seeking getaways focused on reading. Travel and reading are intrinsically linked, says Rebecca Sinclair, chief brand officer at Penguin Books UK.
‘Books open up the world to us, bringing us closer to new places, cultures and perspectives. With 85 per cent of book buyers reading to “relax or escape”, it is no surprise that reading is a source of wanderlust.’
Shouldering on
People clearly want a September to remember, according to ABTA’s 2026 trends report. One in four planned a getaway that month in 2025, up seven per cent over three years and outpacing growth during peak summer months – and the trajectory is likely to continue.
This Super September rise spans all age groups. Over-65s are leading the trend and those without children are particularly drawn to it, with 37 per cent of over-45s without children at home eyeing the month.
Lastminute.com has also seen a September surge, alongside broader growth beyond the traditionally popular months.
‘The trend of shoulder season travel is here to stay,’ says Alessandro Petazzi, CEO of the online travel agency. ‘We are seeing travellers extend the summer well into the autumn, with November seeing the biggest growth in departures of 2025.’
