8 trends that are defining travel in 2023

One of the positive byproducts of pandemic isolations was that we were all reminded how precious it is to spend time in the presence of our loved ones. This experience has led to a marked uptick in the desire of families to spend time together.

Consequently, many families are booking trips together in 2023. Notably there are parents travelling with children, but also often grandparents are in the mix too, leading to a trend of truly multigenerational holidays.

Another positive byproduct of our collective pandemic experience is the desire to make real, meaningful connections with other people. There's also the adjacent desire to reconnect with nature after our forced indoors time.

Further to this, parents are wanting to help their children get away from digital screens and connect with people, animals and nature.

Consequently, there's been an increase in people booking immersive and hopefully transformational trips that let them:

Asia is experiencing a big rebound in tourist numbers in 2023. At Follow Alice we've certainly seen this with the number of clients booking treks in Nepal.

One reason for the renewed interest in Asia travel is that some big tourist destinations, like Japan and Bhutan, were closed to visitors for so long during the pandemic. Bhutan kept its borders closed for two and a half years, and Japan for nearly three years.

Another major reason for the uptick in Asian travel is that residents of China – who were the region's biggest travel group pre-pandemic – are eager to travel again after having their borders closed until very recently.

The internet company Travelzoo conducted a poll in October 2022 with its roughly 15 millions members to find out what sort of holiday is the most desirable for 2023. Beach holidays came out tops at 57%, above historical and cultural trips (53%) and road trips (44%).

After all the time indoors during the pandemic, folks are clearly still craving some sun and open spaces!

Expedia recently coined the term set-jetters to describe people who travel to visit locations introduced to them through their favourite TV show.

According to Melanie Fish, a travel expert working at Expedia Brands:

Here are some examples of specific locations that have seen an influx of travellers recently because of TV shows:

Slow travel is a category within sustainable tourism where travellers seek to engage deeply with local cultures, environments, foods and music. The focus is on being consciously aware of experiences and not rushing through anything – because less is more.

One aspect of slow travel in 2023 is trying to fly less by using more eco-friendly transport modes to cover some or all of the distance where possible.

Linked with the desire to reduce one's carbon footprint is the slow-travel goal of making the journey part of the experience.

In Europe in particular you can see more people opting for train rides over short flights, and making an effort to get as much out of the train experience as possible.

Sustainable travel is often linked in our minds with weak lightbulbs, camping, compost toilets and the like. Yet that's not the case, or at least not anymore.

As sustainable travel grows in popularity and becomes increasingly mainstream, more and more providers are developing high-end sustainability offerings that appeal to those wanting to be responsible travellers as well as enjoy life's finer things.

If you're interested in high-end sustainable travel, look for four- and five-star accommodations that use renewable energy sources and find other ways to be low-impact. Glamping is often very light on the land when done right.

Also look for establishments that are sustainable in terms of socioeconomic factors like using locally grown or purchased produce and having local ownership or management so that your money stays mostly in the country. Homestays are also a very sustainable form of accommodation!

While classic wellness retreats like yoga and meditation holidays have been popular for years, there's now a desire to plan holidays around trying novel activities or learning new skills.

This smaller but nonetheless very interesting travel trend means folks are opting for activities like foraging, berry picking, crafting and beekeeping.

So what do you think? Do any of these travel trends appeal to you? There's nothing wrong with joining the band wagon when that wagon is hitched to a great idea!