Whether visiting family for festive celebrations, escaping the wintery chill for a beach getaway or embracing the snowy season on a cold-weather vacation, holiday season travel is hot on the radar for many clients this year.
Following is a roundup of observed trends from industry experts, so travel advisors can stay informed on what’s driving winter and holiday travel in 2024.
Editor's Note: This story was last updated on Dec. 18, 2024.
Thanksgiving Trends From AAA
Trend 1: The Holiday Will See a New Travel High
AAA is forecasting that 79.9 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home this Thanksgiving, setting a new record for the holiday. The figure marks an increase of 1.7 million travelers compared to last year, and an uptick of 2 million compared to 2019.
Thanksgiving Trends From Allianz Partners
For this year’s Top 10 Thanksgiving Destination Index from Allianz Partners USA, the company reviewed more than 750,000 travel itineraries to reveal where travelers are headed for the holiday both domestically and internationally.
Trend 1: Top Domestic Destinations
Here in the U.S., New York City once again claimed the No. 1 spot for domestic getaways. Seattle, meanwhile, held onto its No. 2 ranking for the fourth year in a row. Next up is Dallas, rising in popularity from sixth place to third this year, with sunny Phoenix coming in fourth. Orlando, Florida, fell from third place to fifth for 2024, followed by Atlanta (No. 6), Los Angeles (No. 7), Boston (No. 8) and Chicago (No. 9). Notably, Miami made its debut on the list, sneaking in at No. 10.
Trend 2: In-Demand International Destinations
On the international front, Mexico proved most popular for the fourth consecutive year, with Cancun, San Jose Del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta securing the top three spots. Mexico City also returned to the list after a five-year absence, coming in at No. 10. European cities in demand for the holiday include London (No. 4) and Paris (No. 6). And the Caribbean made a strong showing, including Nassau, Bahamas (rising from seventh to fifth place); Montego Bay, Jamaica (No. 8); Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (No. 7); and Oranjestad, Aruba (No. 9).
Trends From Beyond
Trend 1: Solo Travel Is Trending This Thanksgiving
Vacation rental revenue management platform Beyond has revealed that solo travel is up almost 10% for this Thanksgiving, compared to last year.
Trend 2: Smaller Groups Are Traveling for December Holidays
Beyond's data also indicates that the number of guests per short-term rental stay for urban markets in the U.S. is down 11.6% around Christmas, meaning that group size is decreasing for December holiday travel.
Trends From PwC
Trend 1: Travel Intent Is Strong for This Year’s Holiday Season
Tax and advisory firm PwC released its annual Holiday Outlook for 2024, revealing that intent to travel this holiday season is holding steady, with 46% of consumers planning a trip, compared to 47% last year. Broken down by gender, 55% of men plan to travel, compared to 42% of women.
Trend 2: Younger Generations Plan to Spend More
Among those planning to travel, the biggest spenders are millennials (with an estimated budget of $751, up 12% from 2023) and Gen Z (spending $639, an increase of 42% over last year). Gen X expects to spend $481 (down 21% from last year) and Baby Boomers intend to spend $321 (up 2%).
Trend 3: Less Stress Over Disruptions
PwC found that people are generally less stressed about travel disruptions this year, including rising travel costs (61%, down from 68% in 2023), gas prices (58% versus 65%), rising hotel costs (54% compared to 61%), flight cancellations (51% versus 60%) and long delays at airports (50%, down from 58%).
Trend 4: Costs and Budgets Are a Growing Concern
Despite feeling less stressed in general about rising travel costs, consumers are keeping budgets top of mind, with 85% of consumers cutting back on discretionary spending, including 31% who are planning to take fewer trips than last year. Fifty-six percent of travelers are opting to stay with family and friends this year as a cost-saving option, up 11% from 2023.
Trends From The Points Guy
Trend 1: Hot Destinations
According to a report from The Points Guy and Points Path analyzing more than 7.2 million online searches, the most popular destinations for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel include New York, Los Angeles and Miami. Other hot spots that made the list are Cancun, Mexico, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Trend 2: The Holiday Season Is a Bad Time for Travel Rewards Redemption
Clients may want to save their earned points and miles for use at another time of year, as the report shows that loyalty rewards decrease in value during the holiday season. According to The Points Guy, average redemption value drops 6.47% for Thanksgiving week, and 3.6% around Christmas and New Year’s.
Trends From Squaremouth
Travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth.com analyzed data from thousands of insurance policies purchased for winter travel in 2024 to determine key trends for the season.
Trend 1: Mexico Is No. 1
For the first time in five years, Mexico has proven itself the most popular destination for holiday travel among Squaremouth users, surpassing the Bahamas and even the U.S. More than 13% of travelers are headed to the country for the holidays, compared to 10% last year. The next most popular spots include the Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica.
Trend 2: Spending Is Increasing
With travel costs rising all year long, travelers are spending more on trips between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. The average domestic trip has risen nearly 58% over last year, in fact, costing an average of $5,249, while international trips have risen 38% to an average cost of $7,892.
Trend 3: Medical Issues Are a Growing Concern for Travelers
More than 25% of insurance quote filter searches for this holiday season were for emergency medical coverage, with another 21% for medical evacuation. Travel concerns over illness and injury are higher this year than last, with these searches up 12% compared to 2023.
Trends From Tripadvisor
According to Tripadvisor’s 2024 Winter Travel Index, more than half of Americans (57%) are planning to travel this winter, with an impressive 96% saying they will travel as much or more than last winter. The majority (91%) will hit the road for seasonal celebrations such as winter festivals and activities.
Trend 1: Winter Travel Is Expanding Beyond Holiday Trips
Tripadvisor found that a growing number of Americans are using the winter holiday season as their main vacation time, with 28% of travelers planning to visit three or more cities during a winter getaway. What’s more, 85% of survey respondents said that they are flexible about their destination, indicating that their trips are not limited to visiting loved ones for the holidays.
Trend 2: Popular Destination in the U.S. and Abroad
When it comes to staying in the U.S., Tripadvisor found that the top five destinations for a winter escape are New York City, Las Vegas, Orlando, Honolulu and Key West, Florida. Hot international destinations include Cancun, Mexico; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Playa del Carmen, Mexico; Paris; and London.
Trend 3: Spending Remains Strong
Among respondents, 93% plan to spend the same or more on travel this year compared to last year, and 53% plan to increase their budget.
Trends From Faye Travel Insurance
Trend 1: Younger Generations Want Unique Holiday Trips
According to Faye Travel Insurance, Gen Z and millennials are prioritizing experiences this holiday season, opting for unique trips over traditional vacations or material purchases.
The company found that 27% of respondents want “plan-free travel,” choosing their destinations without any planned itineraries. Twenty-one percent are traveling specifically for a live music event, and 21% are opting for social media-worthy destinations. More preferences include shoulder-season travel (18%), sports tourism (14%) and visiting locations from movies and television shows (12%). Another 12% are opting for “silent tourism” or peaceful retreats, such as sleep resorts or silent walking tours.
Trend 2: Americans Want to Go Abroad
Eighty-eight percent of travelers insuring their trips with Faye are going abroad, particularly to Mexico, South Africa, Australia and Argentina.
Trend 3: Spending Is High
Average insured trips for the Christmas/New Year's Eve period cost an impressive $14,232.
Trends From WalletHub
Trend 1: Inflation Is Impacting Travel
A Winter Travel Survey from WalletHub (a personal finance company) found that inflation is taking a toll on winter travel, with 72% of people saying the issue will affect their trip plans this year.
Trend 2: Debt and Spending for Travel Are Up
Interestingly, 52% of respondents think winter travel is worth going into debt for (with men 83% more likely to agree than women), and 49% of Americans say they are still carrying debt from traveling last winter. And while 37% of Americans don’t have a winter travel savings fund, 46% plan to spend more on winter travel this year than last year. Forty-two percent will spend the same, and only 12% will spend less. About four in five respondents plan to use credit card rewards to help with their spending.
Trend 3: Experiences Reign Supreme
Like other recent research, WalletHub also found that consumers are prioritizing experiences over things: 58% say they prefer to spend their money on travel instead of shopping this winter season.
Winter Trends From Allianz Partners
Trend 1: Travelers Are Headed to These European Cities
Following a review of more than 940,000 travel itineraries for the upcoming winter season, Allianz Partners USA has released its 2024 European Holiday Destination Index, revealing the top 20 European cities for holiday travel in 2024.
The top four spots on the list remain the same as in 2023: London again ranks first, followed by Paris; Madrid, Spain; and Rome. Northern European destinations are proving popular with Americans this year, with Dublin, Ireland, jumping two spots into fifth place; Helsinki, Finland, rising five points to make its debut on the list; and Amsterdam, Netherlands, coming in at No. 6.
Bavaria, Germany, is another hot region among Americans. Frankfurt rose one spot to No. 7, and Munich came up two spots to No. 9. Other destinations seeing noteworthy increases in interest include Brussels, Belgium (up two points to No. 16), and Venice (up three points to No. 17). Barcelona, Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal, were also among the top 10 cities on the list.
Trend 2: New York and Cancun Take Top Billing
Allianz's Top 10 Holiday Destinations 2024 survey, based on a review of some 2 million flight itineraries, revealed top domestic and international destinations for this holiday season. The domestic list is topped by perpetual favorite New York, followed by Seattle, Orlando, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Top international spots include Cancun, San Jose del Cabo, London, Puerto Vallarta and Punta Cana.
Trends From Point.me
Trend 1: Travel Over Goods
A new survey from travel rewards search engine Point.me found that consumers would prefer to have travel over goods this holiday season. Ninety-three percent would opt for a roundtrip business-class flight over a designer item; 79% would take a roundtrip economy-class flight over high-end electronics; 81% would trade multiple gifts for one vacation; and 60% prefer travel-related gift cards to retail options.
Trends From United Airlines
Trend 1: Christmas Markets Are Driving Travel
United Airlines has reported that bookings to European destinations are up nearly 30% over 2019, and have increased by 10% compared to last year, driven by the continent's festive and sought-after Christmas markets, attracting millions of visitors from around the world each year.
Trends From Hilton
Trend 1: Most-Searched Destinations
Hilton's most-searched destinations for the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve include Hawaii, Cancun, Orlando, New York and Las Vegas.
Trend 2: Destinations on the Rise
Destinations seeing the largest increase in searches year over year for Hilton range from Kyoto, Japan, to Turks and Caicos; Tokyo; Osaka, Japan; and Costa Rica.
Trends From Enterprise Mobility
Trend 1: International Travel Is Driven by Younger Vacationers
A recent survey conducted by Enterprise Mobility (which manages Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo) found that 10% of trips planned for this holiday season are international, up three points year over year. Millennials and Gen Z are driving this uptick, showing a 4% increase in planned international travel over the prior year, and planning more trips on average than Baby Boomers.
Top destinations include Mexico, Canada and the U.K.
Trend 2: More Than Two-Thirds of Americans Are Planning a Holiday Trip
The survey also found that 68% of Americans are planning at least one overnight trip between November 2024 and January 2025, taking place at least 50 miles from their homes. Of those, 55% are planning road trips, though Enterprise notes an increased overall preference for air travel, up about three points over last year. Top domestic locations include Florida, California and New York.
Trends From Cloudwards
The software and security experts at Cloudwards analyzed global search data to find out where travelers around the world want to go for Christmas in 2024.
Trend 1: London Tops Worldwide Rankings
Globally, London ranked as the most desirable place to travel for Christmas, followed by Vienna and Prague. Prague's entry into the top three this year may indicate a desire for more affordable, yet still festive, destinations.
Trend 2: U.S. Travelers Want to Go to Vienna
Among U.S. travelers specifically, Vienna came in first among desirable Christmas destinations. Other international spots in demand for Americans include Quebec City, Canada — a city that search data shows is growing in popularity among U.S. travelers, especially those in the Northeast — and Paris.
Trends From Expedia
Trend 1: Prepare for Crowded Airports
According to Expedia’s Holiday Outlook, year-over-year flight searches for Christmas travel are up, especially for international trips (+20%). Expedia predicts that the busiest days to fly will be Dec. 20-22 and Dec. 26. The best days to fly, on the other hand, include Dec. 16-18, as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Trending U.S. destinations include Los Angeles, Orlando, New York, Miami and Las Vegas. The fastest-growing international hotspots are Tokyo; Zurich, Switzerland; Kingston, Jamaica; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Munich, Germany.
Trend 2: The Wider Winter Season Is Seeing Increased Demand
Wintertime travel (outside the Christmas to New Year’s period) is up 10% this year, according to Expedia’s Winter Travel Outlook. Warm-weather destinations such as Los Angeles and Cancun are top choices, though the fastest-growing spots represent a mix of snowy and sunny offerings: Vancouver, Curacao, Kyoto, Maui and Zurich. Expedia also notes that interest in northern lights viewing have driven up searches for Yellowknife and Churchill in Canada.
Trend 3: Travelers Can Save in January and February
Expedia also notes that average hotel prices in January and February are 10% cheaper than summer rates, and flight prices are up to 15% lower than over the Christmas season, representing big opportunities for travelers to save during those months.
Top destinations for value include Rome (with ticket prices down 25% compared to summer), Barcelona (-15%), Montreal (-15%), Calgary (-15%) and Honolulu (-10%).
