As the new year approaches, preparations for 2024 travel are in full swing. Expedia, the leading online travel booking platform, recently launched its… Travel Trend Report 2024. This report is the result of combining extensive first-party data with insights from a global survey of 20,000 travelers, providing a first look at what will shape the travel industry in the coming year.
“What happens in culture often determines consumer behavior, and we’ve certainly seen that in the travel industry,” said Jon Gieselman, president of Expedia Brands, in an interview with Travel + Leisure.
Generative AI
Although generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have grown in importance in 2023, Gieselman reports that only a small portion of travelers, just 6 percent, use these tools to organize their trips. Nevertheless, Expedia expects wider adoption in 2024. Half of respondents indicated they are likely to use generative AI for their upcoming travel arrangements.
Destination “Dupes” and “Set-jetting”
Expedia conducted a study on the ‘dupe’ trend spreading on TikTok and applied it to the 2024 Destinations project.
In many cases, these ‘dupes’ represent budget-friendly replacements for traditionally more expensive locations. Topping the list is Taipei, Taiwan, which saw a remarkable 2,786 percent increase in flight searches in 2024, as Expedia identifies it as a counterpart to Seoul. Some other notable “dupes” include Pattaya, Thailand (an alternative to Bangkok); Paros, Greece (similar to Santorini); Curaçao in the Caribbean (similar to Sint Maarten); and Perth, Australia (similar to Sydney).
A travel trend for 2024 that is a reliable choice and a follow-up to 2023 is ‘set-jetting’. It is expected that this trend will remain popular in the new year. More than 50 percent of travelers surveyed said they had considered or booked a trip to a location they saw in a TV show or movie.
Frugal travel and more
Expedia expects that travelers will enthusiastically start “dry tripping” once they arrive at their destination, meaning they will go beyond the typical “dry January” or “sober October” and enjoy low-cost vacations all year round alcohol or alcohol content. The travel industry has responded by supplying minibars with non-alcoholic products and experience in making mocktails.
According to Giselman, the dry tripping trend is mainly influenced by Gen Z travelers. “A sober, curious lifestyle is becoming more common, and many Gen Zers are practicing alcohol-free lifestyles,” he notes.
