Every October, the same thing happens.
The big travel companies publish their forecasts for next year, the headlines all land in the same week, and suddenly everyone at dinner has an opinion about where we’ll be going.
This year the pile is bigger than usual. Expedia, Booking.com, Hilton and Priceline all released their 2027 trend reports within a few weeks of each other, built on surveys of tens of thousands of travelers and on what people are actually searching for right now.
I read them so you don’t have to. Here’s what’s worth knowing, and what it means if you have a trip in your head for next year.
Grab a coffee. This is a weekend read.
Shorter Trips, More Often
The clearest trend across every report: we’re taking more trips, and they’re shorter.
Hotels.com calls it “Trip Snacking.” According to Expedia Group’s Unpack ’27 report, searches for one-night stays are up nearly 10% year over year, and 79% of travelers say they plan to book a one-night getaway in the coming year. Hilton’s 2027 Trends Report, based on a survey of more than 14,000 travelers in 14 countries, calls the same shift “The Micro-Travel Mindset” and found that 88% of U.S. travelers consider anything under three or four days a “short trip.”
What I like about this one: it’s realistic. Not everyone can disappear for two weeks. A long weekend somewhere with plenty to do nearby (63% in Hilton’s survey prefer to stay somewhere central) is a trip that actually happens.
Where People Are Actually Going
Expedia’s Destinations of the Year list is built on real search growth, not a popularity contest, and it’s a refreshingly un-obvious list. The biggest climbers:
- South Lake Tahoe, California, up 195%
- Hyogo, Japan (home of Kobe and Himeji Castle), up 95%
- Punta del Este, Uruguay, up 65%
- Sedona, Arizona, up 55%
- Busan, South Korea, up 50%
- Holbox, Mexico, up 45%
- Perugia, Italy, up 35%
Vrbo spotted the same instinct closer to home. Searches for landlocked “Heartland Hideouts” jumped, led by Bentonville, Arkansas, up 140%, with Deadwood, South Dakota, and Lincoln, Nebraska, close behind at 120%. For those of us in Tulsa, seeing Bentonville on a national trend list is a bit of a flex. It’s two hours away.
“The best destination for 2027 might be the one nobody in your group text has thought of yet.”
Travel That Feels Like Something
Several reports noticed the same thing: people are planning trips around how they want to feel, not just where they want to be.
Booking.com’s 2027 Travel Predictions, drawn from more than 28,000 travelers across 32 countries, found that 81% would choose a destination primarily based on how they want to feel. Hilton found 65% actively seek experiences that calm the body and reset the nervous system, and 79% say fresh air and the outdoors are essential to how they relax on a trip.
Expedia calls one version of this “Un-Adulting”: trips built around play, spontaneity and zero obligations, with 57% of travelers saying they’re likely to book one in 2027. Think grown-ups-only theme park nights and nostalgic experiences. Vrbo found 68% are likely to take a hobby-focused trip, whether that’s birding, photography or a crafting weekend with friends.
And “Set-Jetting” is alive and well. Nearly one in five travelers has booked a trip after seeing a place in a show or movie, per Expedia, and searches for Monaco spiked more than 120% after Emily in Paris confirmed it was filming there. With The White Lotus Season 4 on the 2027 calendar, expect another destination to get the treatment.
The Trend I Didn’t Expect: Letting Go of “Perfect”
Hilton calls it “The Rise of ’Ish.” More than half of travelers (54%) feel pressure to have the perfect trip, and 24% say they spend their vacation trying to keep everyone else happy.
The fix the report points to isn’t trying harder. Nearly a third (31%) of travelers have gone “solo-ish,” flying alone and meeting friends or family at the destination. And 76% say simply having a trip on the calendar gives them something to work toward. Hilton calls that “the beforeglow.” I call it the best reason to book early.
Money Is Quietly Shaping the Guest List
Budget is the theme under all of this.
Priceline’s 2027 Where to Next? report found 70% of Americans choose a destination based on how far their money will stretch, and 65% have used the savings from a good deal to splurge on upgrades. Booking.com found half of travelers have reconsidered who to invite on a trip because of differences in spending, and 66% want packages that let them remove services they won’t use.
Translation: people aren’t traveling less. They’re being pickier about where every dollar goes.
What This Means If You’re Flying for the Holidays
Here’s the part that’s useful this weekend.
Hopper’s 2026 Holiday Travel Index says this holiday season is on track to be the most expensive in a decade. Domestic round-trip airfare is averaging $402 for Thanksgiving (up 31% from last year) and $452 for Christmas (up 23%). Hopper’s advice is blunt: book before Halloween.
A few of their date tips:
- Thanksgiving: leave Monday, Nov. 23 (averaging about $370) instead of Wednesday. Come home Monday or Tuesday. Sunday, Nov. 29 is averaging $604 per round trip, one of the most expensive travel days of the year.
- Christmas: leave on the Monday or Tuesday before the holiday rather than the weekend of Dec. 18–20. Skip the Sunday, Dec. 27 return, and get home before Jan. 2, when fares jump past $560.
- Already booked? Avoid “basic” fares that can’t be changed, so you can rebook if the price drops.
What to Do With All This
- Put a trip on the calendar. Even a long weekend. Hilton’s 76% are onto something.
- Plan around a feeling. “We want to come home rested” is a far more useful brief than “somewhere warm.”
- Start early on the 2027 hot spots. Tahoe, Sedona, Japan, Bentonville. Rising search interest becomes rising prices.
- Book the holidays this month. The data isn’t subtle on this one.
The reports agree on more than they disagree. Next year’s best trips will be shorter, more personal and planned earlier. That’s good news if you like a plan.
And if you don’t, that’s what I’m for.
Thinking about 2027, or still staring at holiday flights?
James McMullin provides personalized travel planning and booking services as an independent contractor of LuxRally Travel. Tell me how you want the trip to feel, who’s going and roughly when. We’ll build the rest from there.
— James McMullin, Travel Advisor | Search It Travel
Travel Like You Own the World.