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UNPACK '26 SUMMER TRAVEL TRENDS: DOMESTIC DEMAND RISES AS TRAVELLERS TAKE A MORE MEASURED APPROACH

EXPE
  • Expedia Group released the first-ever summer edition of its trend report, "Unpack '26 Summer: The Trends in Travel," based on first-party data from Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.
  • Domestic travel is dominating summer vacation planning, with global social conversation increasing by 77% year-over-year.
  • 53% of Canadian travellers are planning domestic trips, with searches for Jasper, Alberta up 55% and interest in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Blue Mountains spiking by 25%.
  • Top Canadian "Stay-Here Summer" destinations by search increase include Moncton (40%), Newfoundland (40%), Halifax (35%), Muskoka (35%), Kamloops (30%), and Revelstoke (25%).
  • Hotel hopping is gaining momentum, driven by event hopping, road tripping, and bleisure travel to experience more of a destination in a single trip.
  • Event-based hotel hopping examples include staying near Rogers Centre for Blue Jays games, the Calgary Stampede, and Ottawa Bluesfest.
  • Popular road trip routes for hotel hopping include the Sea-to-Sky route in B.C. and the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia.
  • Bleisure travel saw over 165K online mentions, with Helsinki (+71%), London (+47%), and Oslo (+46%) being top destinations for combining business with leisure stays.
  • Beach Readaways are trending with social buzz up 213% year-over-year, as travellers build vacations around reading & relaxation.
  • Top "Beach Readaways" destinations include Panama City Beach, Prince Edward Island, Lake Michigan, Seaside, Oregon, Maui, Lisbon, Nova Scotia, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Aruba, and Charleston.
  • The "Kick Off" trend shows soccer fans booking last-minute trips to North American host cities, with Kansas City (+700%), Philadelphia (+210%), and Monterrey (+210%) seeing massive search increases.
  • The "Take Off" trend sees travellers avoiding soccer crowds to visit Europe, Asia, and South America, where average hotel daily rates are down nearly 25% despite a 35% year-over-year interest increase.
  • Top "Take-Off" destinations with rate decreases include Fukuoka (-35%), Buenos Aires (-35%), Nara (-30%), and Thasos (-30%).
  • Set-Jetting, or travel inspired by movies and TV shows, continues to shape demand, with Yorkshire (+35% YoY), Muskoka (+110% after "Heated Rivalry"), and Rome (+35% after "Emily in Paris") leading the way.
  • Upcoming screen-inspired travel forecasts include Rhode Island ("The Real Housewives"), Devon ("Sense and Sensibility"), The Dolomites ("Cliffhanger"), Williamsburg ("Young Washington"), and Nantucket ("The Five-Star Weekend").