Skyscanner Travel Trends 2027: "Travel, Better Spent"

Skyscanner's annual outlook is a useful read on demand signals for 2027: travellers say they will protect core spend on flights and hotels while cutting optional extras.

Skyscanner published its Travel Trends 2027 report, "Travel, Better Spent", on 16 October 2026 in London. It combines Skyscanner search data with research from more than 28,000 travellers and data from TikTok, ClassPass, Wise, Universal Music Group for Brands and AllTrails.

Headline findings

82% of UK travellers plan to travel as much or more in 2027.
60% will spend more on flights and hotels while trimming optional extras.
"Cheap flights" was the most popular prompt globally in Skyscanner's Explore with AI tool over six months.
Word of mouth is the top source of holiday ideas (39%), ahead of YouTube (25%) and Instagram (22%).

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (+501%); Hurghada, Egypt (+186%); Malmö, Sweden (+103%); Trapani, Italy (+95%); Samos, Greece (+75%); Chongqing, China (+70%); Da Nang, Vietnam (+68%); Sal, Cape Verde (+67%); Kittilä, Finland (+65%); Guatemala City, Guatemala (+63%).

Best-value destinations (airfare drop plus competitive accommodation pricing)

Bilbao, Spain (-66%); Wrocław, Poland (-47%); Bordeaux, France (-34%); Zurich, Switzerland (-33%); Ancona, Italy (-31%); Rhodes, Greece (-22%); Pula, Croatia (-20%); Carcassonne, France (-20%); Fez, Morocco (-19%); Krabi, Thailand (-15%).

Seven trends

Signal Severance: 1 in 4 Gen Z travellers plan to disconnect in 2027; Kittilä and Rovaniemi are seeing rising demand for digital detox trips.
Pilgra-merch: 23% have taken a trip specifically to buy items they could not get online.
Sten Do Surge: Couples are choosing combined celebrations over traditional stag and hen trips; 25% of travellers do so, citing fun (50%), cost (47%) and ease of organising (42%).
Grand Odysseys: Historical and cinematic content drives bookings; 33% were inspired to plan a trip by epic films and TV.
Gym-cation: Two-thirds of millennials are more likely to book hotels with nutritious breakfasts, and 40% of Gen Z prioritise hotels with gyms. Bangkok, Mumbai, New York, Phuket and Seoul top Skyscanner's hotel gym filter.
Sound Bound: 25% of travellers say the venue matters as much as the music when choosing a destination.
Currency Chasers: 26% of travellers (45% of Gen Z, 40% of Millennials) have switched destinations for better exchange rates; searches to Vietnam rose 25% year on year.

Skyscanner CEO Bryan Batista said: "Travel is entering a new era." He noted that people are becoming more intentional about how they spend their time and money, and that geopolitical instability is increasing travellers' focus on trusted information, flexibility and transparency.

Source: Skyscanner