The HBX Group Travel Trends Report 2026 shows travel shifting toward bold, experience-led journeys. Travellers seek authenticity, creativity, play, and cultural immersion, with social media and AI shaping discovery and booking. Hotels, journeys, and destinations are becoming experiences in their own right, as travel is increasingly seen as an investment in meaning, memories, and personal fulfilment rather than simple escape.
GLOJanuary 16, 2026
The HBX Group Travel Trends Report 2026 paints a picture of an industry entering a new phase. After years defined by restraint, mindfulness, and recovery, travel is swinging decisively toward maximalism, immersion, and emotional value. Travellers are no longer satisfied with seeing destinations; they want to feel them, participate in them, and leave with stories that matter.
What unites the many trends outlined in the report is a single idea: authentic, experience-led travel is now the primary driver of demand.
Image: HBX Group
Below are the key takeaways shaping travel in 2026.
1. Maximalism Is Back, but Choice Matters
Travel preferences are diverging. Some travellers still seek calm, wellness, and digital detox, while others are chasing spectacle, luxury, and cultural intensity. The common denominator is intentionality. Whether minimal or maximal, trips must feel purposeful, personal, and worth the investment of time and money.
Key takeaway: One-size-fits-all travel no longer works. Flexibility and choice are essential.
2. Social Media Now Shapes the Entire Booking Journey
Travel inspiration increasingly starts on social platforms, and the gap between “dreaming” and “booking” is shrinking fast. Influencer content, short-form video, and in-app booking tools are turning inspiration into immediate action. For many travellers, social validation and shareability are integral parts of the experience.
Key takeaway: Visibility, storytelling, and frictionless booking are inseparable.
3. AI Is Becoming Infrastructure, Not Experimentation
Artificial intelligence is now embedded across trip planning, customer service, and operations. Travellers are embracing AI tools for discovery and planning, while businesses are using AI to automate repetitive tasks and improve service quality. Crucially, the report stresses that AI works best when it enhances human connection rather than replacing it.
Key takeaway: Competitive advantage lies in responsible, human-centred AI deployment.
4. Entertainment, Play, and Fandom Are Powerful Travel Drivers
Sports, music, gaming, film, and pop culture are reshaping destination choice. Travellers are willing to cross continents to attend events, chase collectibles, or engage with fandom-driven experiences. Destinations and brands that align with cultural moments are unlocking new, high-value audiences.
Key takeaway: Play and fandom are no longer niche; they are economic engines.
5. Creativity and Participation Trump Passive Sightseeing
Travellers increasingly want to create, not just observe. Art workshops, design-led hotels, maker spaces, and interactive cultural experiences are booming. This “creativity economy” transforms tourists into participants and supports local communities in the process.
Key takeaway: Participation creates deeper emotional connection and longer-lasting memories.
6. Authenticity Means Living Like a Local
From neighbourhood festivals to convenience-store culture and home-style cooking, travellers are drawn to everyday life packaged authentically. What once seemed mundane is now extraordinary when it offers genuine insight into local habits and rituals.
Key takeaway: The ordinary, when authentic, is a powerful differentiator.
7. ‘Someday’ Travel Has Become ‘Right Now’
Rising costs, shifting life priorities, and a focus on experiences over possessions have changed how people travel. Travellers are blending luxury and adventure, cities and resorts, relaxation and intensity into single trips designed to maximise meaning.
Key takeaway: Travel is viewed as an investment in happiness, not a luxury add-on.
8. Hotels and Journeys Are Becoming Destinations
Hotels are no longer just places to sleep. Properties with strong identity, signature experiences, and immersive design can command higher rates and longer stays. Similarly, journeys themselves—train routes, ferries, road trips—are becoming experiences worth booking in their own right.
Key takeaway: Experience now drives both accommodation and transportation choice.
The Bigger Picture
The HBX Group report makes one message clear: travel in 2026 is transformational, not transactional. Travellers are investing in meaning, memory, and identity, and they are willing to pay for experiences that feel genuine, immersive, and emotionally resonant.
For travel businesses, success will depend on the ability to design experiences—not just sell inventory—and to meet travellers where inspiration, culture, and technology intersect
Source: HBX
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