Travel trends for 2027

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 1. Multi-generational travel

Virtuoso identifies multi-generational holidays as one of the biggest trends for 2027. Grandparents, parents and children travelling together, celebrating milestones and making memories.

With families increasingly spread across the country (or the world), a shared holiday can be a rare opportunity to spend proper time together.

It's something I'm seeing more interest in, and the logistics can be surprisingly complicated. Finding somewhere that keeps three generations happy, coordinating travel from different locations and keeping family tensions to a minimum – that's where a bit of expert help can really make a difference.

🌿 2. Experiences over destinations

Rather than starting with "Where shall we go?", travellers are increasingly asking "What do we want to experience?"

There’s a thirst for the ‘new and exciting’ – wildlife encounters, food and culture, learning a skill, or unusual and different ways to get from A to B.

It's a shift I recognise in my own enquiries, too. Sometimes the starting point isn't a country at all, but a particular experience someone has always wanted to have, with the rest of the itinerary built around it.

The luxury travel reports are particularly interesting here. Luxury is increasingly being defined by access to extraordinary experiences, knowledgeable local guides and genuine connections, rather than simply the fanciest hotel that could be anywhere in the world.

The trick is knowing which experiences are worth their salt, and which are overcrowded, tacky or unethical. Done well, experiential travel can be a real force for good, connecting travellers with local people, supporting small businesses and ensuring more of our holiday spending benefits the communities we visit.

🚂 3. Slowing things down

This doesn't necessarily mean spending two weeks doing absolutely nothing (although there's definitely a place for that!).

It's about being more intentional with our time. Fewer destinations, longer stays, taking the train instead of another short flight, or simply leaving room in the itinerary for a bit of spontaneity.

I’m a big fan of serendipitous adventures – when we were in Sri Lanka earlier this year, some of our best experiences (like spotting these baby turtles being released) were those that were unplanned. But we wouldn’t have had time for them if the itinerary had been packed to the rafters.

✨ 4. Personalisation (and the human touch)

With AI making it easier than ever to research destinations and put together itineraries, you might expect travel planning to become increasingly automated.

I won’t lie, I do often have a deep sigh when I hear someone saying, ‘Just stick it into ChatGPT.’

But the latest independent Holiday Habits research, reported in Travel Weekly, shows that 38% of overseas holidaymakers now book through a travel professional – up from 34% last year. The reasons cited include convenience, saving time, expert guidance and support.

And I think that's an important distinction. AI can suggest a hundred things to do in Japan. Knowing which five are right for your family, how to fit them together and what to do when something goes wrong is a different matter.

My takeaway?

What I find encouraging is that these trends aren't necessarily about spending more money or travelling further.

They're about making the most of the time, energy and money we invest in our holidays. Choosing experiences that matter to us, spending time with people we love and perhaps coming home with a few more stories to tell.

And, from my perspective, thinking about how our travels can have a positive impact on the people and places we visit too.

That's a direction I'd love to see travel heading in 2027.