Travel Trends 2026: New Sustainable Changes?

The beginning of each year traditionally prompts the travel industry to look ahead — and as we move into 2026, these travel trends are shaping the sustainable tourism movement, generating new demand, and anticipating changes in how people want to explore the world.

In the post-COVID era, this process is no longer only about short-term forecasting. Trend analysis is about understanding deeper shifts in traveller behavior, values, and expectations that are redefining travel over the longer term.

Looking back remains useful, but only briefly — to identify which changes were momentary and which signal a more lasting transformation. By understanding what has changed, and why, the travel industry is better equipped to make thoughtful, responsible choices that benefit both travellers and the destinations they visit.

A Defining Shift in Travel Motivations

One of the most defining shifts in recent years is the move away from standardized travel experiences towards journeys that feel deeply personal. Travel is increasingly shaped by identity, lifestyle, and individual priorities rather than generic categories or mass-market itineraries. Sustainability, wellbeing, flexibility, and meaningful connection now sit alongside — and often ahead of — traditional travel motivations.

Booking.com highlights this evolution clearly, predicting individuality taking center stage as travellers design trips that reflect who they are and what matters to them. Travel is being used to celebrate personal milestones, explore niche interests, and engage with experiences that resonate emotionally — from nostalgia-driven journeys and imaginative escapes to highly specific wellness, health, and passion-led travel. The resurgence of road-trip culture and travel meet-ups further reinforces this shift, where the journey itself — and the people encountered along the way — become as important as the destination.

Technology, and particularly AI, is accelerating this transformation. Tools that support itinerary co-creation, personalized inspiration, and adaptive planning are enabling travellers to move decisively away from one-size-fits-all holidays. What was once an emerging preference has become an expectation: the ability to travel in a way that feels uniquely one’s own.

As these trends continue to evolve, they point towards a travel landscape defined by intention rather than volume, by relevance rather than routine, and by personal meaning rather than generic experience. The trends explored below reflect this broader redefinition of travel — one that places sustainability, intelligence, wellbeing, and individuality at its core.

The Concept of Sustainability

Sustainability is a complex concept with cultural, social, environmental, and economic dimensions. The word ‘sustainability’ refers to a balanced development model and was first defined in 1987 by the United Nations Brundtland Commission in their “Our common future” report:

However, given that the adjective ‘sustainable’ is becoming the new regular companion of the word ‘travel,’ a good starting point would be to become aware – as the mindful responsible travelers we strive to be – of the deeper meaning of the term. This will empower us to ask the right questions with increased knowledge and awareness.

According to the UNTWO, sustainable tourism "takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities."

Let’s keep this holistic picture in mind when we refer to ‘sustainability.’ It is more of an ideal steady state than something we achieve once and for all. Therefore, we should consider it more as a journey than a destination. In this environment of continuous improvement, positive results can only come when all stakeholders participate in moving toward a common direction. 

• The travel and tourism industry is becoming more aware and responsible.
• Governments are incentivizing and supporting habit changes.
• Responsible travelers are demanding transparency and inspiring innovation by providing feedback and asking probing questions.

All stakeholders have significant roles to play.

Travel Trends to Look for in 2026

A Change in Language

The first, and more obvious, sign of change in the travel and tourism industry is the language we use to discuss it.

The word ‘sustainability’ is increasingly popular and is constantly popping up on websites, newsletters, and social media. However, the word doesn’t always go beyond good intentions.

If the industry feels the need to keep up with the sustainability agenda, it’s because there is a real need for it. We are shown this regularly through abundant social and scientific evidence about climate change, diversity, equality, and inclusion. We cannot ignore the demand for increased environmental protection, cultural conservation, human empowerment, and sustainable development.

Sometimes, this newfound ‘gusto’ for advancing the sustainability agenda comes from external pressure points, such as:

• New industry regulations
• Governments demanding commitment
• Investors
• Consumers

Regardless of the shift’s source, the change in perspective and mindset is ultimately entering the industry for good.

Trend #1: An increasing number of stakeholders are joining the movement to create a more sustainable tourism industry.

Sustainability Evolving into Purpose-Driven, Conscious Travel

Since 2023, sustainability has shifted from broad environmental awareness to highly personal responsibility and purpose-driven choices. Booking.com’s 2026 research finds travellers are choosing trips that reflect personal values — from skin-health “glow-cations” (health and regenerative practices) to slow travel that intentionally supports local economies. In short, sustainability is now woven into travellers’ identity and trip purpose rather than being a separate “eco” checkbox.

Trend #2: An evolution into purpose-driven, responsible, conscious travel by stakeholders joining the movement to create a more sustainable tourism industry.

AI and Intelligent Travel Design

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future consideration in travel — it is already shaping how trips are researched, designed, booked, and experienced. In 2026, AI is increasingly used as an enabler of better, more personalized and more responsible travel, rather than simply a booking or efficiency tool.

AI-driven platforms and tools now support travellers in navigating an overwhelming range of choices by translating preferences, values, budgets, and constraints into meaningful travel recommendations. This includes tailoring itineraries around interests such as culture, nature, wellness, food, adventure, or sustainability priorities, while also responding dynamically to real-time inputs such as weather, seasonality, availability, and traveller feedback during the journey itself.

For travel designers and operators, AI supports deeper insight into traveller behavior and expectations, enabling more responsive product development and more relevant communication. Importantly, AI is also increasingly being used to optimize travel flows and resource use — helping to distribute demand more evenly, reduce pressure on overvisited destinations, and support more sustainable travel outcomes.

Rather than replacing human expertise, AI in travel works best when it enhances human-led curation, freeing up time for creativity, storytelling, and deeper destination knowledge — all of which remain central to meaningful travel experiences.

Trend #3: The use of AI to enhance human-led travel design, enabling deeply personalized, intentional, and more conscious travel experiences.

Wellness Plus

Wellness travel in the post-COVID era has moved beyond traditional spa breaks and relaxation-focused holidays towards more intentional, inward-looking experiences. While disconnecting from daily routines is not new, travellers are now seeking journeys that support personal transformation, reflection, and emotional well-being.

Today’s wellness experiences are increasingly personalized. Rather than generic retreats, travellers are drawn to offerings shaped by identity, life stage, and intention — from mindfulness and meditation journeys to movement-based practices, creative therapies, and spiritually inspired experiences designed to mark personal milestones or periods of renewal.

Insights from Booking.com highlight this shift towards specialized wellness travel, including skin- and health-focused “glow-cations”, astrology or spiritually themed retreats, and emotionally intentional holidays. Wellness is no longer one-size-fits-all; it is tailored, purposeful, and deeply individual.

Food, movement, and lifestyle practices play an increasingly important role, with retreats integrating functional nutrition, plant-based and adaptogenic ingredients, and holistic approaches to resilience and balance. As noted by Condé Nast Traveller’s experts in 2023, wellness experiences would blend physical practice with creative expression, self-awareness, and community connection, which is certainly unfolding.

At the same time, wellness travel has become more inclusive and relaxed. Yoga and movement retreats are adapting to different abilities and expectations, placing greater emphasis on presence, enjoyment, and personal growth rather than performance. Many travellers also seek to align personal well-being with responsible travel choices, combining restoration with environmental and community awareness.

Wellness Plus reflects a broader understanding of wellbeing — one that integrates body, mind, environment, and purpose — and continues to shape how and why people travel. Emerging as a new sustainable travel trend in 2023, the concept of wellness has been changing and is taking an inward direction. The idea of using a holiday as the moment to unplug from the heavy and noisy routine was not new. However, the novelty is that more experiences offer personal transformation and a deeper connection with your inner self - from guided psychedelic experiences to meditation and mindfulness getaways.

Trend #4: The concept of wellness is changing and will continue to combine elements of personal transformation, both for the body and the mind, in search of a deeper connection with nature and self.

Rediscovering Culture

Cultural travel has evolved from passive sightseeing into deeply personal, immersive engagement. In the post-COVID era, travellers are increasingly motivated by curiosity, openness, and a desire to step beyond familiar environments — seeking encounters that challenge perspectives and create meaningful connections.

Research highlighted by Expedia’s “The No-Normal Travel-Trend” report and Booking’s “The creative reimagination of travel” post pointed to a growing appetite for experiences that move travellers outside their comfort zones. Rather than visiting places simply because they are well known, travellers are drawn to destinations, cultures, and communities that feel unfamiliar, surprising, and emotionally engaging. Exploring different languages, traditions, and ways of life has become a core motivation, not a by-product of travel.

In 2026, cultural travel is increasingly personalized and identity-led. Travellers are curating journeys that reflect who they are, what they value, and the stories they want to tell. This includes fandom- or interest-driven cultural pilgrimages, creative and heritage-based experiences, and trips designed around personal moments of transition, reconnection, or reflection — shifting cultural travel from observation to participation.

This renewed focus on culture is less about ticking off landmarks and more about authentic involvement. Story-driven experiences such as local festivals, heritage encounters, creative retreats, and community-led activities allow travellers to engage meaningfully with place, people, and context. Cultural travel becomes a form of exchange — immersive, intentional, and deeply human.

It’s about deep personal connection and authentic participation. This includes:

• Intentional “whycation” travel, where people travel because of a deeper purpose (e.g., reconnection, family bonding, self-growth).
• Story-driven experiences, such as local festivals, heritage tours, and creative retreats that immerse visitors in culture rather than just observing it.

Trend #5: Travelers are seeking deeper cultural immersion through authentic participation and personal connection, even when it means stepping beyond their comfort zones.

Set-Jetting

Screen-inspired travel continues to shape destination choices, as travellers are increasingly motivated to visit places they have come to know through film, television, books, and digital media. Highlighted by publications such as Condé Nast Traveller, this phenomenon — known as set-jetting — reflects the powerful role of storytelling and visual culture in travel inspiration. Popular examples, including the Emily in Paris effect, or how indigenous tribes of Papua New Guinea inspired James Cameron's third Avatar installment, demonstrate how on-screen familiarity can translate into real-world travel demand.

In many cases, set-jetting acts as a gateway to deeper cultural discovery. Travellers arrive with a sense of connection, curiosity, and context already formed through stories, characters, and landscapes encountered on screen or in print. Experiencing these places in person adds depth and dimension, transforming a previously virtual relationship into a tangible, sensory one.

By 2026, set-jetting has expanded beyond television to include book-inspired journeys, fandom-led travel, and narrative-driven itineraries shaped around literature, history, and creative worlds. This pre-exposure to destinations can foster more conscious travel, as visitors arrive informed and emotionally invested. At the same time, it presents a responsibility: to move beyond image-chasing and engage respectfully with the real communities and cultures behind the stories.

When approached thoughtfully, set-jetting can encourage slower, more intentional travel — inviting travellers to experience destinations with awareness, curiosity, and care, rather than simply recreating scenes from a screen.

Trend #6: As media increasingly influences where people travel, set-jetting highlights the opportunity — and responsibility — to engage with familiar destinations more consciously, respectfully, and meaningfully.

Indigenous Tourism

A separate cultural movement, which saw a rise in the popularity of indigenous tourism globally, was gaining momentum in the post-COVID era. More native communities worldwide are taking the lead in their tourism offers. Indigenous people are starting to design, develop, and manage high-quality tours and experiences.

Community and indigenous tourism in 2026 are more about co-creation and meaningful benefit than passive visitation. Booking.com’s work suggests travellers want immersive, locally governed experiences that feel authentic and personally relevant, reinforcing the 2023 shift toward community-led, ethical experiences but adding stronger demand for direct local impact.

We warmly welcome this healthy surge of Community-Based Tourism (CBT) experiences because we believe they are critical to the sustainable development of tourism activities. By embarking on a CBT experience, travelers will learn from the local ancestral knowledge and about the regenerative relationship that travelers and locals have with the natural environment.

Visitors will also have the chance to leave a positive footprint on the destination by directly supporting local businesses. Above all, visitors can contribute to preserving cultural traditions, many of which should be considered a world heritage. 

Trend #7: This is the time to experience ancestral knowledge in the safe environment of a tourism experience directly from indigenous people as our hosts and guides. Be open to the unknown and enjoy – you will learn more about our planet as well.

Luxury Revisited

Our perception of luxury continues to evolve. 

The demand for luxury travel began shifting towards younger demographics as early as 2023, showing that the new generations were more prone to save money and invest in quality over quantity. Booking’s 2023 report confirmed the shift in younger travelers seeking luxury trips. The report shared that 49% of their survey participants had planned to be more indulgent in their spending habits while on holiday, and 43% to spend lavishly to ensure they maximize their experience.

Beyond luxury huts and glamping experiences in the wilderness, luxury can also mean simply combining nature-focused trips with luxury elements. One example is upgrading safari accommodations from camping to upscale lodges, following a rewarding trekking experience of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Luxury in 2026 equals curation and meaning, not just price. Booking.com finds travellers prioritize unique, often slightly eccentric luxury elements (private kitchens, robotic helpers, bespoke insider access) and place value on experiences that reflect personal taste and accomplishment. The “new” luxury overlaps heavily with personalization.

Trend #8: Luxury is a growing demand, even for younger generations, and it reflects a shift in preferences where quality wins over quantity.

Remote Workactions

In the wake of COVID, many countries began offering incentives and long-term visas to people willing to live and work in another country for at least a year. This trend has only become stronger as time goes on, with an increasing number of countries starting to offer these opportunities to foreign visitors.

European countries and many attractive destinations, such as countries within the Caribbean Islands, have similar programs for individuals and families. Countries from Latin America, such as Ecuador and Brazil, and countries from Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Malaysia, joined the long list of nations from which digital nomads can relocate and work remotely.

However, you don’t need to be a full-time digital nomad to experience this lifestyle.

Forbes detected the rise of what it calls ‘hush’ trips, a two-to-three-week trip – strictly not shared with the employer – that allows remote workers to enjoy the flexibility of their work schedule far from their bland desk at home.

Remote working travelers remain important, but in 2026, there's a push across many employers globally to have employees back in the office between two and five days a week. Still, there’s a lingering interest among travelers to blend extended leisure stays with remote work days, and even with some 'back to office' mandates, this remains more possible now for many than it was pre-COVID.

Booking.com notes longer stays, niche long-stay offerings (kitchen-forward rentals, tech-enabled homes), and people booking trips to celebrate personal achievements while working remotely — advancing the remote-work trends into lifestyle choices.

Accommodations and traditional properties are also increasingly offering discounts on extended stays, sometimes defined as simply staying more than two or three nights.

Trend #9: More flexible working modes have become a new reality, and it is now possible for employees globally to enjoy either a more classic nomadic lifestyle or more short-term 'remote workactions'.

What's evolved in the post-COVID era?

• Travel is far more personal in 2026: Booking.com’s research (29,000+ travellers across 33 countries) shows travellers designing trips to reflect identity, celebrate personal achievements, and follow very niche interests — not just destination checklists.
• New, playful micro-trends appear (e.g., “Glow-cations”, “Romantasy Retreats”, “PastPorts”): These show travel shifting from generic wellness and spa breaks to highly specific, niche-interest trips focused on health, nostalgia, and fantasy-driven experiences.
• Road-trip & meet-up culture is back — rewired: Booking.com flags “Roadtrip Rewired” and crowd-matching for journeys, where the journey/meetups are as important as the destination.
• Tech & AI accelerate personalization: AI-driven photo mapping, itinerary co-creation, and robotic accommodation features are emerging; Amadeus research similarly highlights AI and innovations reshaping travel operations.

Coming Back to the Essence of Travel

We hope that the compulsive instinct to go on vacation continues to evolve into an ever-more thoughtful way of traveling.

What these travel ‘trends’ have in common is a search for something more profound. We hope they continue contributing to the sustainable tourism movement towards more mindful, unique, and immersive travel experiences.

Connecting with ourselves, soaking in natural surroundings, and learning about the local culture represent new reasons why we travel. The focal point is a desire for inner transformation and meaningful connections.

We believe that, as travelers, we are aware now more than ever that tourism always produces impacts. We are determined for our trips to facilitate experiences that will leave a positive impact.

At Yugen Earthside, we want to start this promising year of travels with the consciousness that tourism is an essential element of our lives, and remind ourselves and others that tourism can also play a crucial role in the future of our planet. 

Happy mindful traveling!

This article was originally published in January 2023, and most recently updated in January 2026.