Tokyo, Japan.
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In terms of travel abroad, popular destinations like London, Paris and Rome at all times appear to top the wish list for Americans.
But many travelers are looking beyond those mainstay cities for trips in 2024. Interest in major Asian hubs, off-the-beaten-path locales in Europe and other areas has surged, experts said.
“It’s clear that 2024 is shaping as much as be the yr of globetrotting,” Airbnb wrote last month.
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Broadly, overseas travel is hot: Searches for international flights are up 13% year-over-year, regardless that prices are about 10% higher, based on Steve Hafner, CEO of Kayak, a travel website.
“Americans want to go abroad,” Hafner said. “They’ve done the domestic stuff the last couple years.”
Listed below are the trending destinations for Americans in 2024.
1. Asia takes the crown again
Hong Kong
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Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea, respectively rank because the No. 1 and a pair of trending international hot spots next yr amongst U.S.-based travelers, based on travel app Hopper.
Kayak data shows an analogous trend. Its top five hot spots are in Asia: Hong Kong; Shanghai; Taipei City, the capital of Taiwan; Tokyo; and Osaka, Japan, respectively.
For instance, searches for Hong Kong and Shanghai are up 355% and 216%, respectively, year-over-year, based on Kayak. (The travel site analyzed search traffic amongst Americans from March 16 to Sept. 15 this yr, for travel planned in 2024, and compared it to the identical period last yr.)
Kyoto, Japan
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Japan also ranks highly amongst non-U.S. travelers: Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo are among the many top 24 worldwide destinations next yr, based on Airbnb data.
Asian nations were among the many slowest to ease border closures related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that they are open again, tourists are unleashing a pent-up wanderlust, experts said.
“People couldn’t travel there, and now they’re making it up,” said Sofia Markovich, a travel advisor and founding father of Sofia’s Travel.
China reopened its borders in January 2023, “considered one of the last places” to accomplish that, Hafner said.
Japan reopened to tourists starting in June 2022. There are other aspects driving increased interest to that nation, like a historically strong U.S. dollar relative to the Japanese yen (and other currencies), which supplies Americans additional buying power, and more flights from budget airlines, Hafner said.
Search traffic for Japan has greater than tripled for trips throughout the first nine months of 2024 relative to the identical period in 2023 — a bigger increase than some other nation, Airbnb said.
Americans want to go abroad. They’ve done the domestic stuff the last couple years.
Historically, Tokyo has “hands down” been the preferred city for Americans to go to in Asia, said Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper. Now, demand is “even greater” than usual, she said.
Tourists may additionally pay a hefty premium to fly to Asia next yr: “Good deal” prices for airfare to the continent is $1,204 for 2024, on average — 45% greater than 2019, a much larger increase relative to other continents, based on Hopper.
2. Going off the beaten path in Europe
Stockholm, Sweden.
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Overcrowding in the normal European hubs is driving an influx of tourists to generally less-frequented areas, experts said.
For instance, Stockholm, Sweden; Budapest, Hungary; Helsinki, Finland; and Prague, Czech Republic, respectively rank seventh to tenth on Kayak’s list of trending destinations abroad.
Copenhagen, Denmark, is No. 4 on Hopper’s 2024 hot spot rating. Prague and Edinburgh, Scotland, are No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.
“Individuals are really discovering the off-the-beaten path places,” Markovich said. “Because your Paris and your Rome and London and Barcelona are only too crowded. And experienced travelers wish to get away from that.”
She recommends “loads” of Scandinavian travel because it’s “so unspoiled by overtourism.”
The Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Andrew Merry | Moment | Getty Images
Moreover, Finland became a member of the NATO military alliance in 2023, driving more awareness of the nation amongst Americans, Kayak’s Hafner said.
Cities like Budapest and Prague have at all times been popular but to not the extent of some European tourist magnets, Markovich said.
Considered one of those typical magnets — Paris — is poised for an extra burst this yr: The City of Light is hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Demand for flights to Paris — and for nearby cities — throughout the Olympics has greater than doubled versus this time last yr, based on Hopper data.
Lower relative prices for some lesser-known spots in Europe are also likely attracting people, Berg said, especially since average flights to Europe overall are 5% dearer in 2024 versus 2023, at $717, Hopper data shows.
3. The Atlantic tropics over the Caribbean
Tenerife, the biggest of Spain’s Canary Islands.
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Although places like Cancun, Mexico, remain popular as warm-weather beach destinations, Americans are increasingly turning to Atlantic tropical vacations over the Caribbean, said Hopper’s Berg.
“That is something recent this yr that we began seeing emerge” and the trend “will certainly proceed” in 2024, she said.
For instance, Tenerife, the biggest of Spain’s Canary Islands, and Funchal, the capital of Portugal’s Madeira archipelago, ranked No. 9 and 10, respectively, on Hopper’s international trend list. Each are positioned off the West African coast.
Individuals are really discovering the off-the-beaten path places.
Sofia Markovich
travel advisor
Though not on the Atlantic, Málaga, a Mediterranean port city on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, ranked sixth on Kayak’s list. The Andalusian city gets about 300 days of sunshine a yr, on average, and, based on one recent report, is the No. 1 city on the earth for expats.
Search interest there may be up 60% year-over-year, Kayak data shows. And that is following a yr through which Málaga was already “overrun,” Hafner said.
“I feel that word has gotten out,” he said.
4. Canada’s ski mountains are having a ‘renaissance’
A ski slope at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, Canada.
Daisuke Kishi | Moment Open | Getty Images
Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal in Canada ranked third, fifth and sixth, respectively, on Hopper’s international trend list for 2024.
Winter tourism likely plays an enormous role, Berg said.
“We have seen an actual renaissance of Canadian ski destinations,” she said. “They’re rivaling plenty of European ski destinations.”
Plus, air travel to Canada is mostly a couple of third of the value of a visit to Europe, Berg added.