1. The Early Whispers of 2027: Where the World Is Heading Next
Here we are, still catching our breath from the last few years of travel chaos, and yet already the mind is drifting—skipping ahead to 2027, that shiny, far-off year that somehow feels both impossibly distant and just around the corner. If you’ve already started toying with holiday ideas and find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices, you’re not alone. The good news is that some clever people have been crunching the numbers so we don’t have to. The Advantage Travel Partnership, a UK-based collective of independent travel businesses, has peered into its crystal ball of booking data and emerging trends, and the results are genuinely exciting. Topping the list of destinations to watch is Albania, a country that has been quietly bubbling under the radar for years but now seems ready to claim its moment in the spotlight. With its rugged coastline, crystal-clear waters, and a price tag that feels refreshingly kind compared to more established Mediterranean hotspots, Albania is shaping up to be the dream destination for people who want beauty without the crowds—or at least, before the crowds inevitably arrive. But the list doesn’t stop there. Further afield, Hong Kong, Egypt, and Vietnam are also flagged as likely favourites, each offering its own unique blend of history, culture, and sensory overload. The overarching message? 2027 is refusing to be a year of boring, predictable holidays. It’s shaping up to be a year of bold choices, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and journeys that genuinely mean something.
2. When the Sporting Calendar Becomes Your Itinerary
What’s driving all this wanderlust? Well, interestingly, the world of sport is stepping up as one of the biggest influencers of travel decisions in 2027. For many of us, a holiday is usually about beaches, food, and lazy afternoons, but the next few years are proving that sport can be just as magnetic. The Advantage data points to a jam-packed sporting calendar that is set to send fans jetting across the globe. Ireland will host the Ryder Cup, bringing with it not just the thrill of world-class golf but also the undeniable charm of Irish hospitality, scenic coastal drives, and a pint or two by a crackling fire. Over in Brazil, the FIFA Women’s World Cup promises to be more than just a tournament—it’s going to be a celebration of football, carnival energy, and South American warmth, and it is already sparking a wave of interest among travellers who want to combine sport with samba, rainforests, and street food. Meanwhile, down under, the Men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia will draw crowds eager to soak up the iconic landmarks, golden beaches, and laid-back vibes of cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. For those whose eyes glisten at the mention of astronomy rather than athletics, there’s another celestial draw: a solar eclipse visible across parts of North Africa and Spain. The thought of standing under a darkened sky, midway through a Spanish tapas crawl or a Saharan desert adventure, is already capturing the imagination of eclipse chasers and casual travellers alike. What this tells us is that 2027 holidays are increasingly being built around moments—flags raised, balls kicked, shadows falling across the land—rather than simply “getting away from it all.”
3. A Glimpse at Summer 2026: The Trends That Set the Stage
Of course, to understand where we’re going, it helps to look at where we’ve just been. The Advantage Travel Partnership also took a deep dive into summer 2026 booking patterns, and those patterns paint a vivid picture of what travellers were craving. For British holidaymakers, the short-haul crown still firmly belonged to Spain, with Tenerife, Mallorca, and the Costa Blanca leading the charge. There’s something comfortingly familiar about the Spanish sun, the late-night dinners, the sound of waves and the smell of paella drifting through the air. Lanzarote’s otherworldly volcanic landscapes and the sun-drenched Costa del Sol also drew crowds, while Antalya in Türkiye proved that the Eastern Mediterranean remains a firm favourite for those seeking a slightly different flavour of the same sun-soaked lifestyle. But it wasn’t just about short hops. Long-haul bookings saw New York, Orlando, Jamaica, and Thailand topping the charts, with travellers clearly looking for big experiences, big thrills, and big time-zone jumps. Interestingly, global events had a visible hand in shaping these choices. With ongoing conflict in the Middle East, many travellers who might otherwise have headed to that region quietly redirected their plans toward the USA, the Caribbean, and the Far East—places that offered both safety and spectacle. The USA, in particular, enjoyed a further surge of visitors, boosted by World Cup fever that turned what might have been ordinary family holidays into unforgettable sporting pilgrimages. Even the rhythm of family holidays shifted subtly: although Easter bookings dipped, perhaps reflecting caution and uncertainty, summer and October half-term bookings bounced back with a heartening 5% rise. It seems resilience, not hesitation, was the defining mood of the season.
4. The Rise of the Touring Holiday: Seeing More, Judging Less
One of the most fascinating trends to emerge from the data is the growing love affair with touring holidays. Now, if you’re not familiar with the term, let’s picture it: rather than plonking yourself in a single resort for a week and calling it a holiday, touring invites you to plan a route that winds through a country or region, hopping from one destination to the next, collecting moments like seashells along the way. It’s the opposite of the traditional fly-and-flop—no offence to that noble art—and it’s taking the travel world by storm. Between 2025 and 2026, touring holidays emerged as a major growth area, and the destinations that benefited read like a list of dreams. Long-haul explorers were drawn to South Africa, Kenya, and Japan, places where the essence of the trip isn’t just a hotel room but the adventure itself: tracking wildlife across the savannah, wandering ancient temples in Kyoto, learning to cook from local grandmothers in a countryside kitchen. These are holidays you feel rather than just see. Closer to home, Italy, France, and Spain were leading the short-haul touring market, which makes intuitive sense—what better way to experience Tuscany than rolling hills between villages, or Provence than through lavender fields and hilltop castles? John Sullivan, Commercial Director at Advantage, captured the shift perfectly when he noted that people are “looking beyond a traditional fly-and-flop holiday” and increasingly want to see and experience a destination properly. That sentiment seems to speak to something in all of us: a yearning for authenticity, for connection, for coming home with stories rather than just photographs.
5. Looking Ahead: China, Indonesia, and the Call of the Unknown
If touring is the way of the future, then the next big frontiers are already being mapped. For 2027, Sullivan tips China, Indonesia, and South America as destinations to watch—and this is where things get really interesting. China, in particular, has been making bold moves to welcome the world back. In 2025, the country eased entry restrictions for citizens from 74 countries, including many European nations, allowing them to enter for up to 30 days without a visa. That’s a game-changer in every sense of the word. Suddenly, the immense, sprawling, dazzlingly complex country is within easier reach than it has been for years. Sullivan believes this will help “shine the light on the incredible cuisine, culture and nature of the expansive country,” and it’s hard not to feel a tingle of anticipation at the thought. Imagine wandering the Great Wall not because you saw it on a bucket list, but because you could. Imagine eating dumplings in a sleepy Sichuan village, or watching the mist roll over the karst peaks of Guilin, all without the bureaucratic hurdles that once made such journeys feel like an ordeal. Indonesia, too, offers a rich tapestry of islands, traditions, and wildlife, from the snorkeling paradise of Raja Ampat to the spiritual heart of Ubud. And South America—well, that’s a continent that seems tailor-made for touring, with its dramatic landscapes, vibrant cities, and the kind of warmth that makes you never want to leave. For travellers in 2027, these are not just honeymoon whims but serious possibilities, backed by an infrastructure that is gradually growing smarter, more flexible, and more welcoming.
6. The Year of Meaningful Escapes: What 2027 Really Holds
So what, in the end, are we to make of all this? If there’s a single thread woven through all the data, it’s that the way we travel is changing—and changing for the better. The old model of a holiday as a static, sun-and-sand retreat is slowly giving way to something more active, more curious, more intentionally designed. The top destinations of 2027—Albania, Hong Kong, Egypt, Vietnam, and the rising stars of China, Indonesia, and South America—are not just places to be ticked off; they are places to be encountered, explored, and understood. The influence of sporting events and celestial happenings reveals that we are crafting our holidays around meaningful moments, whether it’s cheering in a Brazilian stadium, swaying in the Irish wind at the Ryder Cup, or standing in silent awe as the moon slides across the sun. The growth of touring holidays shows that we are less satisfied with the surface level; we want the layering of experiences, the slow build of memories, the sense of truly having been somewhere rather than merely having appeared there. And the resilience of travel in the face of conflict and uncertainty speaks to something deeper—our need to connect, to see, to breathe new air. So as you start to think about 2027, don’t just think about where you’ll go. Think about why you’ll go, and who you’ll become when you get there. Because if the trends are any guide, the upcoming year is less about escape and more about return—a return to wonder, to adventure, and to the immeasurable joy of feeling small in a beautiful world. Whether you’re planning a grand tour of Southeast Asia or a weekend in Mallorca, the message is clear: the world is open, waiting, and more ready than ever to meet you halfway.
