Unpack '26: The Trends and What They Mean for Travel Marketers
At a glance
- Travelers increasingly book trips reflecting personal identity and values: hotel hopping, cultural events, and immersive stays drive destination choices.
- Event-driven travel and cultural moments are reshaping where travellers go; DMOs must align visibility strategies with 'intentional traveler' preferences.
- Emerging trends include salvaged stays (historic spaces repurposed), farm charm escapes, and vacation rentals emphasizing literary and nature-based experiences.
- Marketers should prioritize partnerships, targeted promotions, and improved reviews to capture demand from experience-focused, identity-driven travellers in 2026.
What the report covers
Expedia Group's Unpack '26 is a trend analysis examining how travellers' personal identities and passions are reshaping travel behaviour and destination choice in 2026. The research spans 18 countries and integrates 24,000 survey responses with over 200 petabytes of first-party booking data from Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. Published in January 2025, it synthesises emerging travel patterns—event-driven journeys, hotel hopping, salvaged stays, and rural retreats—to provide actionable insights for DMOs, hoteliers, and travel-tech operators adapting to intentional, values-driven travellers.
Key findings
Travellers are no longer booking destinations as mere locations; each trip now functions as a personal statement reflecting identity and passions. According to the report, travellers engage in behaviours such as hotel hopping between multiple properties in one trip, unplugging for restorative getaways, and chasing local sporting events. This shift indicates a fundamental change in travel motivation—from passive consumption to active expression of values and interests.
Cultural moments and local experiences significantly influence destination selection. The report identifies event-driven travel and fan voyages as key trends, with travellers pursuing unexpected sports pilgrimages and emerging hotspots. This suggests that marketers must leverage event calendars and cultural moments in their promotional strategies, using what the report calls 'event-driven insights' to boost visibility and attract experience-focused visitors.
Hotel hopping and salvaged stays represent two distinct but complementary trends redefining accommodation choices. According to the findings, savvy travellers book multiple hotels within a single trip to gain value and flexibility. Simultaneously, historic spaces are being repositioned as immersive stays, creating opportunities for properties to differentiate through partnerships and perks. These trends open pathways for hotels to enhance competitiveness beyond traditional amenities.
Vacation rental demand is shifting towards deeper personal connection and slower-paced experiences. The report highlights 'readaways' (literary-focused escapes), farm charm stays, and cosy rural properties as emerging preferences. Travellers seek reinforcement of unique personal values through these experiences, suggesting that improving reviews and offering targeted promotions for nature-based and culturally immersive properties can capture incremental demand.
Expedia Group has introduced the Smart Travel Health Check tool, inspired by the World Travel & Tourism Council, to guide travellers towards rich, sustainable cultural destinations. This initiative reflects industry recognition that traveller preferences increasingly align with sustainability and authentic cultural engagement, providing a framework for destinations to position themselves as responsible and meaningful experiences.
Key numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Geographic coverage | 18 countries |
| First-party data analysed | 200+ petabytes |
Figures as published in the source; forecasts and survey results are labelled as such in the note.
Why it matters
DMOs & destinations
Event-driven travel and cultural moments are central to 2026 travel decisions. DMOs must invest in visibility strategies aligned with specific events, cultural calendars, and local experiences. The report signals that generic destination marketing is insufficient; targeted partnerships around sporting events, festivals, and cultural moments will drive visitor attraction and engagement with intentional, values-driven travellers.
Hotels & hospitality
Hotel hopping and salvaged stays create both challenges and opportunities. Properties must develop flexible booking packages and partnership models to attract travellers booking multiple stays per trip. Historic or repositioned properties can capitalise on immersive-stay demand. Enhanced reviews, perks, and differentiated positioning around identity and values will be critical to capturing share of trips focused on experience rather than convenience.
Travel tech & distribution
Platforms must enhance filtering and recommendation capabilities to surface identity-aligned experiences, events, and cultural moments. Distribution partners should prioritise inventory that supports flexible, multi-property bookings and experience-focused searches. Integrating event calendars, sustainability credentials, and cultural authenticity markers into search and booking flows will improve conversion among intentional travellers seeking values-aligned experiences.
Methodology and limits
Expedia Group's Unpack '26 combines a OnePoll global consumer survey of 24,000 respondents across 18 countries with proprietary first-party data analysis from Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo platforms, totalling over 200 petabytes of booking and behaviour data. The methodology integrates survey-based consumer sentiment with observed booking patterns, enabling identification of emerging travel trends. The report was published January 2025. This brief is based on publicly available summary material; the full detailed analysis and supporting data are accessible via Expedia Group's partner portal.
Official source
The report is © Expedia Group. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel — it quotes only figures published in the source and never reproduces the document.
Check the official statistics on Pulse
Related reports
Expedia Group's 2025 Traveller Value Index reveals 88% of consumers planning leisure trips and 68% targeting international bookings in the next 12 months—significantly higher than 2022.
Expedia Group's Unpack '24 report forecasts major travel trends for 2024 using 70 petabytes of platform data and a 20,000-respondent global survey. Set-jetting—travel inspired by television and film—dominates, with over half of travellers having booked screen-influenced trips.
Expedia Group's 2023 Traveler Value Index reveals that travel has re-established itself as a consumer priority post-pandemic, with 11,000 travellers and 1,100 industry professionals contributing insights across 11 markets.
Expedia Group's 2023 Traveler Value Index surveyed 11,000 travelers and 1,100 industry professionals across 11 Asia-Pacific markets to map post-pandemic shifts in travel behaviour and expectations.