The annual Virtuoso Travel Week is incredibly rich with travel insights, and I'm happy to share this great article highlighting the travel trends our industry is seeing and the destinations growing in popularity. Enjoy!
Excerpt below from 9/3/2024 article produced by Virtuoso Editors can found here.
On August 10, we gathered in Las Vegas for Virtuoso Travel Week, where we linked up with more than 4,700 of our closest industry friends to learn what’s new in travel around the world. Since returning from early mornings, meeting-packed afternoons, cocktail soirees, and a gala celebration (featuring Cynthia Erivo!), we’re unpacking the latest trends according to representatives from the world’s best hotels, tour companies, cruise lines, and destinations. From wellness-centric vacations to the rise of women’s trips, here’s what we learned.
This Year’s Biggest Travel Trends
Women's trips are big. We heard from a lot of cruise lines and tour operators who are organizing women’s trips, such as Butterfield & Robinson, Insight Vacations, and UK tour operator Wilderness Group. Natural Habitat Adventures’ Women in the Wild trips include dozens of departures with a special focus on female explorers and researchers, ranging from bear spotting in Alaska to a circuit through Iceland. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises is planning a women-only cruise in 2026 (itinerary to be announced).
Community-based tourism is on the rise. It’s not a radical concept, but it’s one that’s gaining traction industrywide: Travel should benefit locals as much as it does visitors. Community-based tourism empowers travelers to engage meaningfully with residents. In Peru, for example, Virtuoso on-site connections and tour operators work closely with local governments to make sure small communities in the Sacred Valley and Lake Titicaca have a stake in planning for and receiving groups of tourists – an important addition, Peruvian tourism representatives told us, to just receiving tourism dollars. Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, is bullish on its craft traditions, encouraging travelers to visit its goldsmiths, weavers, printers – and, yes, its tiny umbrella repair shop, which reportedly does a brisk business. The city has also opened Center Rog, a creative space in a former factory with artist and designer studios, production spaces, and more.
Hotels and resorts are curating more silver-bullet wellness retreats. Travelers are turning to hotels to target hyperspecific cures and wellness needs. From sleep programs, which have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years at properties such as Equinox Hotel New York, to gut biome care at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, an AI-powered mattress at the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, and a “midlife wisdom” program at MEA Wisdom, the industry is meeting the demand for more comprehensive wellness solutions.
Travelers are slowing it down. Visitors increasingly want to spend more time in a destination, rather than racing through a checklist of sights and cities. Regent Seven Seas Cruises is responding to this interest with more overnight stays in ports on its 2025 sailings.
France is on a post-Olympics high. Following the summer spotlight on Paris during the Olympic Games, France will continue to see a traveler influx, with smaller destinations feeling ripple effects from the capital. Virtuoso travel advisors have reported a noticeable interest in Paris, but travelers are also extending their French trips to include the Loire Valley, Champagne, Lyon, and Normandy, to name a few destinations. (Tahiti, where the Olympics’ surf competition took place, warrants a holiday of its own.) France’s popularity goes to show how prime-time placement and celebrity visits positively affect a destination; see also the Taylor Swift effect, The White Lotus impact, and surely many more to come.
Destinations to Watch
Japan. The stampede to Japan continues, with the country seeing record amounts of visitors – a projected 34 million travelers in 2024 – so be sure to give your advisor a long lead time and plan your trip far ahead. Tip: Avoid the holiday rush by traveling during the shoulder season (March, April, September, October, and November).
Guatemala. Costa Rica’s popularity right now has travelers looking for more Central American alternatives with the same appeal: warm water, white-sand beaches, volcanoes, and excursions through the rainforest. Multiple cruise lines, including Princess and Holland America, call at Guatemala’s ports, and tour operators offer multiday tours through the country.
Canada. We’re also seeing a rise in climate-conscious travel and more travelers heading to cooler destinations, including Canada and Scandinavia, during the summer months. Travel to Canada among Virtuoso travelers is up the most of any destination, 168% since last year, and overall, these cool destinations are up 44 percent.
Maui. The Hawaiian island is making a strong comeback. Since reopening to tourism after wildfires decimated West Maui’s historic town of Lahaina, Maui visits are up 66 percent for the holidays. Among the island’s resorts, the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui’s south coast recently finished a multimillion-dollar renovation, showcasing refreshed suites and villas, a new bar and lounge, and a new cultural center.
The Faroe Islands. These tiny isles between Iceland and the United Kingdom’s Shetland Islands offer travelers a chance to really slow down and share experiences with locals. The Faroes, which began offering direct flights from the U.S. last summer, boast dramatic landscapes – marked by rugged cliffs, fjords, and vibrant green valleys – and warm hospitality. Tour operators and on-site tour connections, such as 50 Degrees North and Luxury Beyond, help travelers connect with the Faroese, who are opening their homes and kitchens as part of the Faroes’ latest tourism endeavor, heimablidni (home hospitality).
Colombia. The allure of the Andes Mountains, Caribbean beaches, and a rich cultural scene is bringing more travelers to Colombia. The South American nation made our Where Next 2024 list, and just this summer, Emirates debuted its first flight from Miami to Bogotá, the country’s capital.
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