A year ago, travelers were uncertain. Today, they're adapting. For the first time, this edition of Travel Trends looks backward as much as it looks forward, comparing traveler sentiment and behavior from August 2025 to August 2026.
And one finding stands above the rest: travel enthusiasm barely moved. Everything around it did.
Despite another year of economic pressure, excitement about leisure travel declined less than a single percentage point. But gas prices climbed, consumer confidence weakened, international intent softened, and shortened planning windows stuck around.
The result isn't necessarily a traveler who wants to travel less. It's a traveler becoming much more selective about which trips are worth it. They're adjusting accommodations, shortening trips, traveling during less expensive periods, reducing activities, and staying closer to home — while more than half still consider travel worth protecting even in a downturn.
What this edition covers
- What changed — and what surprisingly didn't — between 2025 and 2026
- Why economic pressure is creating a more selective traveler, not necessarily a less interested one
- Which behaviors, including spontaneous travel and shorter planning windows, may be becoming the new normal
- How AI has moved from an emerging travel-planning influence to a new battleground for destination discovery
- What the latest traveler research, booking behavior, and economic indicators mean for your destination
- New: A year-over-year executive summary separating temporary fluctuations from meaningful behavioral change
Because the challenge for destinations is changing. It's no longer enough to give travelers another reason to want to go. You have to give them a reason your trip is the one worth protecting.
Presented to hotel boards, tourism boards, and leadership retreats. 45–60 min + Q&A, updated every other month.
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