Travel is Back! Top Vacation Trends for this Year
After a couple of years of limiting our vacations to modest, close-to-home affairs – or not traveling at all – Americans are poised to hit the beaches, theme parks, campgrounds and more this year. And the vacation industry expects those travelers to want to make up for lost time.
In fact, Expedia has pronounced 2022 to be the year of the “G.O.A.T.,” or “Greatest of All Trips,” and one travel expert says this fits well with the general attitude people have when they venture out. “Travelers tend to be curious, open-minded, adventurous, and optimistic souls, or they would stay home,” adds Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder and CEO of Indagare, a New York travel-planning company. Following are some of the trends that travel-industry professionals say will define the coming summer.
Catching up with family and friends. Expect to see lots of multigenerational groups traveling together, families using vacations as reunions and collections of people taking “friendcations” to make up for the time they haven’t been able to be together over the last two years. In fact, one study showed a 26% increase in bookings of five or more guests compared to the last pre-pandemic travel year.
Going solo. On the other hand, experts say there has been an increase in people traveling solo. But that doesn’t mean these travelers want to be left alone: Many of them are joining organized trips that cater to individual travelers, often because they like to be around like-minded people.
Breaking the budget. Having denied themselves for so long, travelers are expected to spend more this year, treating themselves to pricier locales, accommodations, meals, activities and more. A recent global study discovered that 70% of leisure travelers in major countries plan to spend more on travel this year than in the past five years.
Going downtown. Urban travel is making a comeback, with people planning trips to big cities to enjoy amenities and activities that we all avoided during the pandemic. U.S. travel agencies report that New York is one of the hottest destinations this year, and many global travelers are heading travel to big cities like Paris and London.
Getting professional help. Because they want bigger trips that require more logistical planning and because pandemic restrictions and effects still linger, travelers are more likely to ask travel agents to help them make their plans, navigate around COVID-19 requirements and impacts and provide support in the case of a problem.
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