Discover The TOP 4 Summer 2024 Travel Trends, According to Google

Discover The TOP 4 Summer 2024 Travel Trends, According to Google

The tourism industry around the world has been experiencing accelerated growth in the last two years. However, this trend is about to further explode due to a series of special events happening in 2024.

This year, summer travel trends have been strongly influenced by international sporting competitions and cultural events scheduled for the upcoming months, according to Google Trends.

Other interesting travel trends include the quest for luxury travel, the use of AI tools and greater environmental awareness when deciding which destinations to visit and how to do it. Let’s see.

1. Multi-Country Travel 

Different sources have been reporting for months that travelers are planning their summer holidays around international sporting events or pop-culture activities like concerts featuring world-famous singers.

Take, for example, the Summer Olympics in France, the UEFA European Championship in Germany and the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.

Tourism leaders have reported a jump of 15% in tour package sales in these countries, according to Euromonitor.

“We’re already seeing a significant impact on booking behaviors within our platform, All.com, with Americans and Brits the most interested in sports travel. For the Olympics in particular, we’re experiencing a surge in hotel bookings across France for the first week of the event, with Paris and Marseille currently leading the trend,” said Mehdi Hemici, Chief Loyalty & E-Commerce Officer of Accor Group.

Travelers are also flocking to countries where Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is being held. Other artists are also being followed around the world.

2. Need for -Affordable- Luxury

Travelers are eager to engage in luxury travel experiences. However, they don’t want to pay more than needed.

This conclusion has been reached after analyzing data retrieved from powerful tools like Google Trends.

In recent months, the search for “best” has outstripped the search for “cheap.”

This may fool you into believing that tourists are looking to travel to the “best” hotels, beaches or destinations regardless of price, but that’s not the case.

Expedia sheds light on what is going on. According to the global travel company, there is a significant increase in searches for “destination dupes.” 

If you have been away from TikTok, those are destinations offering all -or almost all- features of a luxury destination, but at a much more affordable price.

For instance, people are willing to change Seoul for Taipei or St. Martin for Curaçao.

“Places like Palermo, Taipei, Curaçao, and Québec City make really interesting [dupe] destinations of the year list for 2024,” said Melanie Fish, chief trend tracker for Expedia Brands.  

Tourists are also willing to pay up to 54 percent more for upgrades in luxury accommodation and transportation.

3. Growing Use of AI-powered Tools

There’s been an interesting increase in the use of IA tools to plan trips, organize tourist activities and even save a few dollars.

Apps such as Hopper are being used to find the best discounts on hotels. Other AI-powered tools, like Google Maps and Google Lens, are helping travelers plan their trips and schedule tours.

Travelers are also using “Layla” to discover where to go, plan an itinerary, book their hotels and flights and save some money.

4. Conscious Travel 

Trying to reduce one’s carbon footprint is also becoming a hot travel trend. To do so, countries and tourists are working together to make it possible.

An important number of travelers are opting to book train tickets rather than air tickets. In the last 12 months, this type of travel has grown by a staggering 35 percent.

Italy is leading this trend with a 220% surge in cross-border train trips.

It also helps that countries like France have banned short-haul flights. Spain and Germany are considering introducing similar laws but for the time being, they have decided to make significant discounts on train tickets to discourage air travel.

For their part, travelers have found that by taking overnight train journeys in Europe, they can save on hotel fees.