The era of revenge travel is over. No more blowing budgets on big, bucket-list trips. Instead, travelers are following their bliss. They’re planning trips that are low-key, lower-cost, and just plain relaxing.

That’s one major shift we’re seeing in travel planning this year. Here are a few more key travel trends coming into play.

1. Set-jetting

It’s not a new idea, but it has a new name: Set-jetting is the growing travel trend of traveling to locations made famous by movies and TV. We’ve seen it in the past with New Zealand, after the Lord of the Rings trilogy featured its green meadows and jagged mountains, and with Dubrovnik, Croatia, where Game of Thrones fans still flock to see the medieval architecture.

As the media landscape has expanded, so has the list of TV- and movie-inspired destinations. Expedia names a few:

• Thailand, where season 3 of The White Lotus is filmed
• Romania, which stood in for Vermont in Wednesday. Cantacuzino Castle in Bușteni is used as the exterior of Nevermore Academy.
• Paris, as seen in Emily in Paris
• The Scottish Highlands, featured in the swoony series Outlander

2. Destination dupes

What can you do if your dream destination is overcrowded and out of your budget? In 2024, the big trend is destination dupes: places that have the same cultural vibe or natural beauty as a more popular spot. Some top alternative destinations:

• Taipei, Taiwan instead of Seoul, South Korea
• Pattaya, Thailand instead of Bangkok
• Curaçao instead of St. Martin
• Perth, Australia instead of Sydney

Learn more about the pros and cons of destination dupes and get more travel recommendations.

3. Culinary experiences

Food is still a major travel trend for 2024, but people want to do more than just eat. They want a total-immersion dining experience. In “foodie field trips,” you can travel to a farm or distillery to take classes in foraging, cheesemaking, coffee roasting, culinary gardening and more.¹ Hotels and resorts may offer al-fresco dining, picnic packages, or in-depth tasting experiences. Tours led by chefs are also becoming popular.

4. Adapting to climate change

The summer of 2023 was the hottest on record. Tourism was one casualty of the extreme, prolonged heat waves in southern Europe, which saw temperatures as high as 118^oF.² Many travelers also had to flee their accommodations because of wildfires in Greece, Italy and Spain.

What does this bode for 2024? Travel pros are predicting that people will choose cooler summer destinations and save southern Europe for the spring and fall shoulder seasons. Long-term, the European Commission expects to see tourism drop significantly across Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, while Germany, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom will see more visitors.³ Tourism is also beginning to increase in some of the coldest places on earth, such as Antarctica and Greenland.

5. New approaches to wellness

In the world of luxury travel, wellness is a must-have. “A whopping 94% of travelers are incorporating wellness into their travels, with 47% willing to pay $5,000 – $10,000 for this self-care element per trip,” according to Virtuoso’s recent survey.⁴

Wellness travel isn’t just spa treatments and yoga anymore, though. It’s about getting really good sleep. The Bryte Restorative Sleep Suites at the Park Hyatt New York use AI-powered intelligent beds, aromatherapy and accessories to treat guests to five-star rest. It’s about intimacy and sexual health—resorts worldwide are offering tantric classes and couples retreats.⁵ And it’s about biohacking and medical treatments: B12 shots, IV drips, hyperbaric oxygen chambers and more.

6. Sober travel

Members of Gen Z have a very different relationship with drinking, compared to older people. They’re more likely to drink rarely or avoid alcohol altogether.⁶ Restaurants and bars are already taking note of this trend, and now the travel industry is following suit.

Alcohol-free tours, resorts, and travel experiences are climbing in popularity. Expedia reports that “more than 40% of respondents said they’re likely to book a detox trip in the next year; half of travelers would be interested in staying at a hotel that offers easily accessible alcohol-free options such as mocktails.”⁷

7. Concert and festival travel

In 2023, more than 3.7 million people traveled more than 100 miles to see Taylor Swift perform in the Eras Tour.⁸ Meanwhile, many Beyoncé fans went to Europe to get a better deal (and better seats) for her Renaissance Tour.⁹ Swifties will be on the road again in 2024, when Swift launches the next leg of her tour from Tokyo to Vancouver. Other big-name artists on tour include Olivia Rodrigo, Drake, Madonna, Bad Bunny, and the Rolling Stones.

Thinking about traveling to see your favorite artist or attend a music festival in 2024? Be sure to protect your trip! Travel insurance can’t cover the cost of your ticket (you need event ticket insurance for that), but it can provide other valuable protections. For instance, if a commercial event organizer cancels a multi-day event that is the main purpose of your trip due to a natural disaster/severe weather, that can be a covered reason for trip cancellation. The Trip Change Protector benefit (included with OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier) can reimburse travel carrier fees if you must cancel or change your airline, rail, cruise, or tour itinerary for a covered reason—which includes canceled events.

8. Themed cruises

In October 2023, a Taylor Swift-loving travel agent had an idea: a themed cruise for the singer’s super-fans. The In My Cruise Era sailing sold out almost immediately—even though Swift herself wouldn’t be aboard.

Themed cruises are having a moment. "The theme cruise space in the last 20 years has just exploded," travel adviser David Bittner tells Travel Weekly, observing that there is a cruise for just about “anything you can think of.” There’s a cruise that’s a perfect fit for just about every passion, whether that’s cats, heavy metal, pickleball, jam bands, knitting, or stand-up comedy. There are even two 2024 sailings of a cruise for fans of Hallmark Christmas movies, with actor appearances and the chance to see movies before they premiere on television.

Planning a cruise or any other big trip in 2024? Discover why more than 70 million Americans a year trust Allianz Travel Insurance to protect their biggest adventures. Find your perfect plan and get a quote right now.

Related Articles

• 5 Delectable Culinary Train Tours Around the World
• What Does Travel Insurance Cover for a Cruise? Six Key Benefits
• The Top Travel Trends for 2023