What will be big in travel next year? Our team polishes the crystal ball to suggest destinations, identify new trends, and looks at the development of cruise ships and itineraries.
INTERNATIONAL AIRFARES
While economy return flights between WA and Europe (the biggest routes and our benchmark) have settled mostly somewhere between $2400 and $3500, I’m going to take the plunge and predict we will start to see a few prices under $2000 in 2024. There is even talk within the travel industry of airfares on some international routes between Australia and Europe falling to pre-pandemic levels before the middle of next year — maybe not consistently so, but in patches, and with spot sales. Basically, as airlines continue to build capacity, there are moments when they have a lot of extra seats to fill, and will stimulate this with lower prices. But for the moment, the advice is still that if you see a price that you feel is fair, take it. The chances of getting a sale price on exactly the routes you want and the dates you want will be slim.
BE FLEXIBLE
… which leads me straight to the other trend to adopt for 2024, if you can. Be flexible. The less rigid travellers are in their plans, the more they will benefit from deals and sales. It may be that flying in to a regional city, for example, will work out less expensive and actually save time and other costs. The same with dates. Being flexible as to when you fly (over adjacent days) can be a real benefit.
DOMESTIC AIRFARES
There looks like less hope of a consistent softening of domestic airfares in 2024 — just look out for those sales, and take them when they come. (Once again, being flexible as to when you visit family and friends, for example, will be a benefit.) The chances are, there will still be people asking why it costs as much to fly to Sydney and back as it does to fly return to Europe.
ALL ABOUT CULTURE
Skyscanner is a metasearch engine and travel agency based in Scotland which is used by about 100 million people per month. Travellers can research and book flights, hotels and car hire. So Skyscanner’s 2024 Travel Trends report has some weight, as it blends the site’s search and booking data (and there are 80 billion price searches a day across 52 countries) with its annual consumer behaviour study. And its new Travel Trends report shows very clearly that “cultural exploration” is a big priority for travellers in 2024. A spokesperson says: “We’re seeing a broad spectrum of cultural curiosity in travel, from gig trippers, jetting off to see their favourite artists, to budget bougie foodies seeking the very best food experience.” Throughout the touring and river and ocean cruising, there has been a big emphasis on creating new experiences, and this will continue. It all adds up to more value in the holiday.
COST OF LIVING
Skyscanner’s 2024 Travel Trends report also acknowledges the global pressures of the rising cost of living. But travellers are still keeping travel not only in their budgets — but giving it some priority over other discretionary spending. I’ll just take this moment to refer back to my comments about being flexible — and to add that Skyscanner’s team notes that the “everywhere” search, showing prices from the lowest to highest from airports to global destinations, is the top search destination for travellers globally. Now, that really is being flexible.
SLOWING IT DOWN
The number of touring itineraries that “slow things down” will continue to be a trend in 2024. I clearly remember those maps in touring brochures 20 years ago (yes, I was Travel Editor of The West even then) with lots of red dots with a “1” in them and a few with a “2”. The digits, of course, represented the number of nights spent in a city, town or village. It was actually pretty rare to see a “3”. In 2024, there will be itineraries with mostly “2s” and lots of “3s” and some “4s” and “5s”. The trend is to stay longer, settle, and appreciate the moment more.
RIVER CRUISE SLOWDOWN, TOO
… and the same is a trend in river cruising. On some of the popular routes, for example on the Rhine, or on sections of the sailings between Amsterdam and Budapest, we see quite a difference in the time taken to cover the same route. Look carefully at itineraries — as this might mean an extra night in a town or village port (and the chance to wander out and dine locally), or there might be less-familiar stops added in.
RIVER VESSELS
There will be new river cruising ships in 2024. For example, Avalon’s new 102-passenger Alegria will be on Portugal’s Douro River in 2024, with its signature panorama suites, with the bed “cross-wise”, so the incumbent faces the river. Uniworld has two more ships, renamed SS Victoria and SS Elisabeth, to sail the Rhine.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Some travellers will increasingly add at least some thought about climate change into their planning. It may be a train trip in place of a short flight in Europe. It may be in deciding to stay longer (combining trips, rather than flying backwards and forwards). It may be as specific as the choice of hotels. The team at online site booking.com surveyed 27,000 people in 33 countries and territories for a 2024 Travel Predictions report and one of the revelations was that half of respondents said they were thinking about how climate change would affect the way they plan their 2024 holidays. It is, of course, a particular demographic — and millennials were the most tuned in to this, with baby boomer respondents least likely to consider it.
AI & BOOKING
From the same booking.com survey and report, it looks like AI will have a bigger role in the travel booking industry in 2024. Almost half of those surveyed said they were prepared to use AI tools when they were planning a trip. Younger travellers are, rather predictably, ready to use AI to help put together itineraries, while just about 40 per cent of baby boomers said they wouldn’t trust the technology to their holiday.
AI IN THE BACKGROUND
. . . but AI is already busily at work in the background, with lots of booking sites and search engines using it to drive changes to their customer experience. And there will increase in 2024.
ALL IN BLACK & WHITE (& COLOUR)
While declaring an obvious interest, I can’t ignore another significant trend — and that is these printed pages, and those of Sunday Travel, which we launched during the pandemic. We are regularly publishing 32 or 36 pages of Saturday Travel and 28 pages of Sunday Travel — about 60 pages a week. Our output of printed pages is twice what it as before the pandemic. Yes, print is a trend. In my career of more than 40 years as a writer and editor, I have never seen anything like it.
SOLO & SINGLE TRAVEL
After years of writing about the requirements and demands of solo and single travellers, I started to feel in 2023 that the message had got home to some significant parts of the travel industry — and was starting to get home with others. We have been publishing stories about cruise ships being built with more solo cabins than they used to have. We have been writing about the number of solo travellers (often, albeit, with partners at home) joining tours. We have seen some companies waiving single supplements on some river cruises. It is not consistent across the industry, but I do feel the wave is gathering momentum, and will continue to do so in 2024.
CHOOSING SOLO
While some older travellers may, of course, have to consider solo travel after the loss of a partner, others are choosing it. That’s at one end of the scale. At the other, one in four Gen-Z respondents in that booking.com survey said their main reason for travel in 2024 would be to connect with themselves. And, to be blunt, somewhere in the middle are, I have experienced, more women travelling solo on tours, leaving husbands at home because they don’t want to travel any more.
CYCLE TOURING
Riding, particularly the long cycle paths of Europe, following rivers, fully supported, with stays in local accommodation, with luggage moved every day and riding with only a backpack has become a favourite with WA travellers. And our cycle tourers will certainly be doing more of it in 2024. There are more than 250 self-guided European cycle tours that can be booked as a package. One of the great rides is between Venice and Amsterdam. TIP — follow the rivers downstream; gravity helps.
RAIL TRAVEL
Particularly across continental Europe, rail networks continue to be developed, trains and carriages updated and reinvented, and rail passes rethought and connected together. And that’s all good news for travellers. For example, a new TGV train is set to run between Paris and Berlin in 2024. A particular trend for 2024 in all of this is the continued addition of overnight sleeper services, for example between Paris and Vienna with OBB Nightjet, which is set to continue to Italy and Croatia. In 2024, European Sleeper, which runs a service between Brussels and Berlin, is planning to extend this to Prague and Dresden.
NORTHERN LIGHTS BRIGHT
Demand for trips to see the northern lights are set to continue to burn bright in 2024 — forward bookings show that. It’s hard to beat an expedition cruise ship in the Svarlbard archipelago in northern Norwegian waters, but on land I’d head for Tromso, also in Norway (though I have had my best nights is Kangerlussaq — a 190km-long fjord in Greenland). Aim for December through to March.
ICELAND ON THE BOIL
While we’re in cold climes, I do feel that Iceland will start to come off the boil a bit in 2024. It’s been such a “place to visit” post-pandemic, but it’s expensive. If you are still thinking about it, the economical way is on a cruise, for example with some of the good Viking itineraries. After all, that way you have a prepaid floating hotel and restaurant. It’s still a great drive destination, with the 1328km long Ring Road (Route One) lapping the country. Remember names like Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Dyrholaey and Jokulsarlon. (I’ll be testing you later.)
SCANDI STARS
Norway and Denmark, in particular remain front and centre in many travel plans.
+ Norway’s tourism is driven largely by people cruising and extending their stay. Most ship itineraries spend time in the Norwegian fjords (the stars being Geirangerfjord and Sognefjord), and they often include the pretty coastal town of Bergen. Look for itineraries that include these.
+ Despite being UNESCO’s World Capital of Architecture for 2023, Copenhagen has been relatively quiet. It’s a good time to go, and spend time on the three islands of Bornholm, Zealand and Funen. Mix island hopping with cycle touring.
GREECE NOT SLIPPING
Greece has been so popular for the last two summer seasons, you’d think just about anyone who wanted to go there has just been. The country’s Minister of Tourism, Olga Kefalogianni, says 2023 looks like being a record year. She says: “In the year to August, arrivals surged by more than 18 per cent compared with the same period last year and tourism receipts have seen a 15 per cent increase over 2022. There are also solid indications that these numbers will surpass that record-setting year in 2019.” In announcing that, the minister also stressed the importance of sustainability as tourism grows, outlining the country’s sustainable tourism strategy for 2024, prioritising “a balance between economic benefits and environmental and cultural protection, social cohesion and care for people in local communities”.
MORE SHIPS COMING
A significant number of new ships will take to the water in 2024. Viking, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Silversea, Ritz Carlton, Cunard and Disney will all have new ships. Let’s pick out a couple. Viking Vela will be slightly bigger than the ships it has been building, as it carries 998 passengers. That gives them 17 extra cabins, all with views of course, and more space for technical equipment. And Silversea will have its second 728-passenger Nova class ship, the Silver Ray. These ships are of an interesting design, with an emphasis on the ocean experience. There are lots of spots to simply enjoy the ocean and the horizon. But perhaps the biggest story of the year will be the 7600-passenger Icon of the Seas, which is due to start sailing in January 2024. And there’s also the 6700-passenger Utopia of the Seas. The rest include Princess Cruises’ 4000-passenger Sun Princess and Cunard’s Queen Anne (and we gave readers a sneak peek of that being built in Sunday Travel, recently). Disney Treasure will be a sister ship to Disney Wish — and will come with adults-only lounges based on Disney theme park attractions and the AquaMouse slide that even Mickey and Minnie would be proud of. And, of course, two cafes named for princesses Moana and Mulan.
CHARACTER DRIVERS
Don’t underestimate the power of the small screen in 2024. There is a not an insignificant number of travellers motivated to plan around not only destinations but specific sites featured in their favourite “box set binges”. We cover these themes regularly, particularly in Sunday Travel, and the trend also showed clearly in Skyscanner’s research, which revealed that one in three US respondents want to experience Paris just like Emily Cooper in the three-series Emily in Paris. A Skyscanner spokesperson adds, though: “While 86 per cent of US travellers are inspired to book a trip to a destination they’ve seen on the big or small screen, only 49 per cent go on to book.” (But that’s still a lot, in my book.) For those who like lingo, this character-driven travel, with people keen to step into the shoes of favourite on-screen stars, is officially called “main character energy”.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Same, same. (But brace yourself for the bill, and the cost at the fuel pump if you’re driving the distances.)