The travel landscape is always evolving. This year, we've seen destinations go in and out of style, train travel grow ever more popular, Multi-Generational Holidays multiply, and Sabbaticals make a comeback after a Covid slump. So, what’s next? From 'Bootiquing' to Bonding Holidays, read on for our round up of the hottest travel trends for 2024...
- Bonding holidays
- Twinning destinations
- Winter in summer destinations
- Bootiquing holidays
- Last hurrah holidays
Bonding Holidays
Bonding Holidays – special one-on-one trips for just two family members – are on the rise, and we’re expecting these types of trips to feature in the travel trends for 2024. We've seen an increase in bookings for parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, or grown child and elderly parent (or any other combination) and to meet the demand, we’ve relaunched our Bonding Holidays collection, featuring itineraries designed to make the most of the precious one-on-one time. Connecting over a shared interest or discovering something new together are common factors in these types of trips and our itineraries deliver both in spades.
© Olivier Romano
Twinning destinations
City breaks to Madrid, Lisbon, Istanbul, Porto and Reyjkavik are more popular than ever – not as stand-alone city breaks, but as layover extensions. Where clients have indirect flights to their final destination, they’re increasingly incorporating the layover city into their wider holiday and opting to stay for a few days before flying onwards. Madrid, Lisbon, Paris and Amsterdam are important hubs – serving central and south America, the French Caribbean, Indonesia and Southeast Asia – and offer a great opportunity to enjoy a European city break before heading to more exotic climes.
© Olivier Romano
Winter in Summer destinations
Plenty extol the virtues of summer in the mountains, but what about winter in traditional summer destinations? It’s a chance to see some of your favourite countries in a totally different light and is the ultimate form of Undertourism, something we’re keen champions of. We’ve launched several new itineraries to promote the concept, including an off-season escape to Corsica. This week-long trip explores the wild beauty of the snow-capped Corsican hinterland on a snowshoe adventure, topped and tailed with city breaks in Ajaccio and Bastia.
Bootiquing holidays
This year, we’ve seen a rising demand for luxury walking holidays, in a trend we’ve dubbed ‘Bootiquing’. Keen hikers are increasingly asking for boutique hotels and luxury cabins which offer a step up from the basic accommodation that has historically catered to the market. In response, we've introduced a number of new itineraries that combine heavenly hiking routes with luxury accommodation. And thanks to a swathe of state-of-the-art cabin hotels which are popping up beside popular walking routes, this trend is likely to be huge.
Last Hurrah holidays
This year, we've seen an increase in big-ticket family holiday bookings. Whether down to nostalgia, sentimentality or a desire to pause the passing of time, parents are increasingly asking us to design a family holiday so good it will convince even the most truculent teens (or even adult children) to come away on one last family trip. Bucket-list adventures and far-flung destinations are popular requests, with diving, safaris and cool city breaks proving particularly popular. Even better, as trips with university-age (or older) children are generally no longer tied to the school holidays, parents are putting the money saved from travelling off-season towards epic activities instead, making these holidays a hard-to-refuse proposition.
Cover image by: Olivier Romano | Written by: Ella Mawson