If you spent time with our 2023 Fall Travel Hot List, then you likely enjoy knowing what’s buzzing in travel the same way people love to know what’s about to pop off in music. It’s about cultivating taste and road-testing your ideas by getting offline and outdoors.
With 2024 just underway, we have a fresh year ahead of us for all-new travel adventures. A full year of reminding ourselves each day to “be here now,” gleefully settling into the present, and maximizing as many PTO and OOO days as possible.
We asked prominent travel influencers and writers for their 2024 travel trend predictions. From seeking out lesser-known “second cities” to embarking on wellness travel trips and living out Almost Famous concert dreams, our panel’s predicted travel trends might just surprise you. Or rather, they may just inspire you to plan your next trip.
Happy Travels!
EDITOR’S PICK: Steve Bramucci (@steve_bramucci): Festival Travel Hits Mainstream
Aside from the two biggest tours on earth — Beyonce and Taylor Swift — the past year was… not so great for tours by younger musicians. Travis Scott tickets have been going for as low as $7 on the aftermarket. Lil’ Baby shortened his tour by seven dates. Those are monster names.
I have a theory. Who wants to see one show from an artist when you can see 150 artists on the same bill at a festival?
I’ve seen Billie Eilish at Coachella twice now — I don’t feel compelled to see her on tour (as great as I’m sure that experience is!). Moreover, a good festival takes on an identity and vibe of its own. The food, the art, the design… it’s all very experiential. Which is, as you likely know, the biggest buzzword in all of travel over the past decade.
As 2024 gets moving, I predict that more and more people will travel specifically to go to certain festivals. From lifestyle festivals like Envision to floating festivals like Groove Cruise to iconic festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury to festivals that are more focused on community than music like Treefort, traveling for a party makes perfect sense and is going big this year.
After all, “party mode” and “travel mode” are pretty similar for most people. And since both activities are expensive as f*ck, it tracks that a lot of people will tie their biggest trips of 2024 to their biggest live music moments. I know I am — heading back to Envision this year for the first time since the pandemic — hope to see some of you there!
Gabby Beckford (@packslight): Seeking Out Second-Cities
In 2024 I think we’ll continue to see people get out of the most popular cities and seek out the popular second cities nearby. Travelers will be seeking a similar and equally enjoyable city vibe with a touch more local culture, and touch less of the overwhelming crowds or exorbitant prices.
🇲🇽 Guadalajara over Mexico City
🇪🇸 Estepona over Malaga
🇵🇱 Krakow over Warsaw
🇹🇷 Antalya over Istanbul
🇬🇪 Batumi over Tbilisi
🇳🇱 Rotterdam over Amsterdam
🇦🇺 Brisbane over Sydney
🇯🇵 Sapporo over Niseko
Emily Hart (@emilyventures): Wellness Travel
Whether staying at a dedicated “Wellness Retreat” or a hotel in a bustling city, wellness as a key component of travel is what I’ve seen come to the forefront this year and will continue into 2024. Options for yoga classes, aromatherapy in the room, juice bars, saunas, and cold plunges are all additions that can make any stay into a retreat. Dedicated retreats like Wild Rice Retreat in Bayfield, Wisconsin, or CIVANA in Carefree, Arizona, are great options. But even more straightforward options are including wellness activities in their daily offerings.
Travel is undoubtedly frustrating, so an experience to unwind when at your destination makes all the difference, even if the wellness activity is heart-pumping – i.e., mountain biking in Sedona at Enchantment Resort or taking part in a Barry’s Bootcamp class during your stay at Hotel Clio in Denver.
Olivia Christine Perez (@ochristine): Soft Adventures Outdoors
In 2024 I anticipate seeing a lot more people pursuing soft adventures outdoors. As more and more people seek to get outdoors for their wellness, various levels of outdoor adventure will become more popular — including soft adventures.
Soft Adventures are more accessible to the average outdoor adventurer thanks to their low-impact benefits and relative proximity to cities. It is becoming a huge part of the tourism industry, and cities and towns not typically known for their outdoor activities are joining the fun. From urban park trails to showstopping views, soft adventures can come in the form of camping or glamping, horseback riding, boating, day hiking, and more. It is one of my favorite ways to get outdoors and is great for beginners!
I think vacation destinations with proximity to bodies of water, panoramic views, dedicated trails, and bike lanes will see an increase in visitorship. Local businesses that accommodate those tourists will flourish, and resources like tours and porter services will become increasingly available. And if there are multiple ways to get there — like train travel instead of a plane — that’ll be amazing!
Melanie Gordon (@livinginflowco): Responsible Wildlife Tourism
With the mega-trend of experiential travel holding strong, I foresee wildlife tourism being a major travel trend in 2024. Whether it’s setting sail on a whale watching tour from a nearby harbor, trekking to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, diving with whale sharks in Panama, or going on Safari in South Africa; wildlife encounters offer us unparalleled connection with the local environment. As we continue to seek out meaningful experiences in the places we visit, we must also consider our responsibility in doing so sustainably. Wildlife tourism can benefit and prioritize the well-being of animals and their habitats, but it can also be done unethically.
Do not join wildlife activities that involve captive or restrained animals (like the many elephant “sanctuaries” in Thailand), and be sure snorkel and diving tours are not chumming the waters beforehand. Find a tour operator that values ethical practices that promote animal and environmental welfare. A big bonus if they invest money back into conservation and research.
With our dollars, we can help preserve these transformative encounters for years to come!
Mikala Lugen (@mikalalugen): Piggybacking Travel To Cut Costs & See More Destinations
We’re going on year four of normalizing remote work, and with that, I believe that more people are getting comfortable taking longer “piggybacked” trips to see more destinations and lower their flight costs. Why go through the hassle of jetting across the Atlantic Ocean to land in Spain for a week and go through the antagonizing 10 hours of doing so, only to do it again later in the year to head to Amsterdam or Paris? With more companies allowing people to work remotely, I predict more people will be tacking on an extra one, two, or three weeks for a trip to see more destinations grouped close together to avoid having to buy another long hour and costly flight later in the year.
I did exactly this in the fall of this year, where it made sense to group my trip to California and Alaska together. Instead of flying to California and back to North Carolina only to then fly to Alaska a week later, I strategized my trip and got myself to California and flew out of Sacramento to fly to Anchorage. This allowed me to significantly cut my costs (as flying from California to Alaska was cheaper than flying out of North Carolina) and I grouped my travel in a strategic way to see friends in California and then spend two weeks in Alaska.
Travel smarter, not harder! You won’t catch me on more than only two or three long-hauled flights this year without being gone for a decent amount of time to make up for the jetlag.
Gabrielle Nicole Pharms (@gabbynikki): Concert Tripping: Vibing Around the World
Traveling domestically or abroad to attend a music festival is nothing new. I took my first-ever solo trip at 18 over a decade ago, traveling from Houston to Indio, California, for Coachella – an essential rite of passage for music fanatics. Low key flex: I wouldn’t miss my chance to miss Daft Punk live stateside. However, if 2023 has taught me nothing else, I walk away confident in this fact: People are 100% willing to traverse the globe – not just for a music festival – but for a single artist they love. Let’s reflect.
When tickets were released for the U.S. leg of Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ world tour, the Beyhive went into a frenzy. Tickets were over $1,000! But diehard fans told Ticketmaster, ‘You won’t break my soul’ (or wallet) and opted to purchase flights, book hotels, and secure tickets to Queen B’s show abroad for the total price of one concert ticket in the U.S. So, diehard fans were able to enjoy the sights of a European country while also catching the show of their dreams.
Going into 2024, music fans who double as global adventure seekers will plan trips overseas to catch a vibe and a surreal performance by their fave artist.
Aryeh-Or (@aryehsadventures): Avoiding Geopolitical Destinations
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The current geopolitical climate is hot. Like deep south, Mississippi, mid-summer at high noon hot. 115° in the shade with no lemonade hot. Yes, the current Israel-Gaza conflict is currently occupying center stage and the related protests are hard to avoid no matter where you turn, but that’s not the only unrest afoot. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is still very much active with no end in sight. This year we saw fighting in Azerbaijan and Armenia, multiple war zones on the African continent from the DRC to Ethiopia and Eritrea to Burkina Faso and Mali… Even the much-lauded spiritual calm of India has seen bloodshed.
Oh, and did I forget to mention that we’re going into another election year right here in the good ol USA? Yea… Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that we’re experts at peaceful disagreements.
All this said, as I mulled over my travel prediction for 2024, one thing became crystal clear. When most of us take our precious time off and hard-earned money out to play, the general goal is to relax and reset. We don’t want another protest disrupting our lazy lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We want to get as far away from the bad news and potential thereof as we can. So, I’m placing my bets on a major uptick in travel to Central and South American destinations where the worries and wars of the western world aren’t as prevalent. I’ll lump many island nations in there as well, especially those in the Caribbean. A return to a slower pace & the soothing kiss of the elements are going to be in far higher demand than your classical European metropolises. Sure, Paris will always be Paris, but in 2024, look for me in Peru.
Chloe Caldwell (@bychloecaldwell): AI Travel
The use of AI technology is rising across all industries, and that includes travel. In 2024, I believe that more people will use AI tools to plan itineraries, get travel inspiration, and ask destination-specific questions. When used responsibly, AI can be a valuable tool in preparing for a trip – safety tips, recommendations, packing advice, and general guidance. I also think this might influence the way travel is presented online, considering that ChatGPT can help write social media captions and Photoshop AI can even edit photos.
Again, I think it’s crucial that we use this technology responsibly to enhance our overall travel experience, not falsify it.
Karl Watson (@karlwatsondocs): Overland Travel
I love flying, but you do lose the sense of the actual “traveling” part of travel. You get on to a crammed vessel, and before you know it you’re magically transported to a completely different part of the world, with no sense of how far you’ve come.
But traveling overland, whether it’s by train, car, bus, or boat, you get to see the world gradually change around you. The landscapes change, the culture changes, and it gives you an appreciation of just how big our world is, and also allows for plenty of unplanned adventures along the way!
This February I’m speaking at a conference in Georgia (the country, not the state), and rather than flying there from London, two friends and I are going to travel overland by any means of transport possible.
Having hosted a lot of group tours of late, I’m absolutely buzzing for this completely random journey and can’t wait to see what stories we’ll have to tell from it.
Joe Sills (@joesills): Conservation Tourism
Fueled by outdoor adventure, photography, and social media, ecotourism has been booming for years. But conservation tourism puts a new twist on the allure of natural beauty by using travelers to power local initiatives aimed at improving the planet. Conservation tourism isn’t about *seeing* animals. You might or might not see what you’re looking for out there. It’s about helping animals or their habitat.
At places like Burhan Wilderness Camps in Thakudwara, Nepal, travelers can volunteer with community wildlife patrol efforts on the outskirts of Bardia National Park—a former royal hunting ground that now serves as one of the last strongholds of the endangered Bengal tiger and greater one-horned rhinoceros. While getting boots-on-the-ground experience in preventing human/wildlife conflict with tigers, elephants, rhinos, and leopards in the jungle, their funding goes towards supporting rare, wildlife-focused jobs in the region.
In places like the Okavango Delta in Botswana, groups like African Conservation Experiences are teaming up with researchers, guides, and private lodges to turn would-be safari-goers into paying members of research teams that help monitor wildlife movement patterns and interactions with humans.
Conservation tourism experiences can be more rugged than a luxury tour or safari; yet, I’ve found them to be one of the best ways to engage with the people most intimately connected to some of the planet’s most threatened species at a time in human history where every ounce of sweat and every dollar going towards saving them is desperately needed.
