eDreams ODIGEOs Year in Travel Report Trends Outlooks & Forecasts for Global Destinations

eDreams ODIGEO’s Year in Travel Report Insight into Trends, Outlooks & Forecasts for Global Destinations: London the most searched for destination in the World during 2023

2023 Data:

Paris, Barcelona, London are the top-booked destinations for global travellers
London is the most searched-for destination for flights in 2023
44% of all bookings were made within 2 weeks of departure
34% of all trips were for 3-4 days

Bilbao was the top growth destination for global travellers
Three quarters of all flights booked by Brits were medium-haul

2024 Data:

Paris leads for 2024 worldwide flight bookings
Bangkok is the most searched for destination for 2024 among global travellers

London – 7th November 2023: eDreams ODIGEO, the world's leading travel subscription platform and one of Europe’s largest e-commerce businesses, launches its ‘Year in Travel’ report today. The best known of the eDreams brands in the UK is Opodo. eDreams ODIGEO’s report analyses searches and booking data from its customers in all key European markets* and the USA, to reveal the evolution of travel, including top destinations, booking habits, growth destinations and a foretaste of what we might expect for the year ahead.

TOP 2023 DESTINATIONS:

London came third as the most popular booked destination globally, behind Paris in 1st place and Barcelona in 2nd.

London was the 2nd most popular booked destination for Germans, the 3rd most popular booked destination for Portuguese and 6th on the list for departures from Spain. For in-coming arrival by air to the UK during 2023, the largest percentage were from Spain (19%), followed by Germany (12%) and Italy (11%). French arrivals made up 10%.

British travellers instead had their sights on Dublin as the most popular booked destination and all top destinations were short-haul (see Table 1), reflecting the overall picture of the distance Brits travelled during 2023: 76% continental, 15% intercontinental and 9% domestic.

TOP 2023 SEARCHES:

London pipped Paris to the post as the most popular destination for flight searches from all markets globally during 2023 - followed by Paris, New York City, Bangkok and Barcelona. During 2023 UK traveller search activity reflected our short-haul booking habits with Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and London all in the top 5. Searches for Dubai ranked 4th, Bangkok ranked 7th and New York City came in 9th place for UK traveller searches. (see Table 2).

2023 GROWTH DESTINATIONS:

Opodo’s data further reveals that top growth destinations across all markets in 2023 compared to the previous year are Bilbao (+54%), Bangkok (+49%), Las Vegas (+28%), Casablanca (+27%) and New York City (+23%). (see Table 3).

For UK travellers only, top growth destinations were Nice (+38%), Edinburgh (+27%), Amsterdam (+14%), Dusseldorf (+10%) and Frankfurt (+9%).

TRAVEL HABITS:

The largest percentage - 34% - of global travel was for just 3-4 days. Almost a quarter (24%) stayed for between 7 and 13 days while just 7% of bookings were for journeys lasting 14-20 days or for those lasting three weeks or more.
44% of all bookings globally were made relatively last minute during 2023: within 2 weeks or less of departure. Just a fifth (19%) of all bookings are made more than 61 days before travel.
Solo travel continues to trend. A new eDreams ODIGEO poll* of 10,000 people (launched September 2023) revealed that ‘being in control of decision making’ remained the primary motivator (41%). But while women increasingly report that they are motivated to travel alone for ‘self discovery’ (34%), the majority of men (31%) report heading off alone in order to ‘meet new people’. Anxiety about safety has diminished significantly: by 24% compared to a similar poll in 2019**. Finally, although it is often suggested that travellers are most likely to consider solo travel to make a ‘wish list’ trip, eDreams’ new poll revealed that beach holidays and culture trips appeal most highly across all age groups (36%).

● Wellness has emerged as one of the hottest new travel trends globally, whether to escape screens or embrace exercise. eDreams ODIGEO’s recent poll*** revealed that 63% of global travellers believe that travel has a positive impact on their mental health and 42% report the importance of ‘relaxing or doing nothing’ while travelling - though 24% of all respondents in the youngest age group (18-24) reported that adventurous activities were most effective for their mental wellbeing.

Social Media is increasingly influencing destination choices as users of Instagram and - especially - TikTok give a new generation of travellers a glimpse of what locations have to offer. TikTok is predicted to become the most influential social media platform for travellers. With up-to-the-minute news and inspiration, social media is making the world more accessible, providing guidance on budgets, safety, don’t-miss sites and hidden gems through influencers trusted by their followers to understand the nuances of their dreams.
According to recent reports, travel Set-jetting has inspired a record number of visitors across the globe from the jungles of Peru to the Northern Irish countryside as TV and film take over the role of the travel agent. eDreams ODIGEO’s data revealed in increase in set-jetting following the 2023 Oscars: after the Fabelmans launch for example it revealed a 110% increase in bookings from Italians travelling to Los Angeles, and following the release of Tár in the UK, bookings to NYC bounced up 228% compared to the same period in the previous year.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024:

Opodo’s data reveals that for bookings made already by global travellers, Paris again takes the No1 spot - with the summer Olympics likely to boost interest further - with London in 2nd place, followed by Bangkok, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid (see table 4). For global flight searches for travel in 2024, London takes third place, just behind Bangkok and Tokyo and ahead of Paris, New York City and Denpasar.

The year ahead is packed with major international sporting events - including the Olympics, the Paralympics, Grand Prix, the Euros and the T20 cricket and eDreams ODIGEO’s data shows where interest is already heating up. Global searches for travel to Paris during the Olympics in 2024 vs the same dates in 2023 are up by +41%. 2024 will be the 20th anniversary of Bahrain’s Grand Prix and global travel searches for the weekend of 2 March are up +183% compared to last year. Interest in travel to Germany during the month of the Euros, 14 June - 14 July is also up - by +36% compared to last year - and the T20 cricket co-hosted by the USA and West Indies between 4-30 June is encouraging +25% more search interest than over the same dates in 2023. Data also reveals that searches for travel to The South American Football Championship - the Copa America held between 20th June and 14th of July 2024 - are up by 31% compared to the same period this year. Many more sporting events are likely to have a significant impact on travel, including the 37th edition of the America’s Cup sailing championship in Barcelona from August to October 2024.

We are also inspired to travel by a desire to be part of vibrant culture in the form of colourful carnivals and music festivals as well as by tempting food events and exhibitions that allow us to get under the skin of a country through its music, food and art. In 2024 Norway’s Bodø will be the European Capital of Culture and eDreams ODIGEO’s data already reveals an increase of +72% in global searches to travel there compared to searches for travel during 2023. From January 1st 2024 Romania is expected to adopt the Euro, becoming the 21st member of the Eurozone and this is likely to spark a renewed interest in travelling to the country with the ease of the pan-European currency. Data reveals a +90% increase in searches for travel to Romania in 2024, compared to 2023.

Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams ODIGEO, comments:

“Our research shows that travel continues to be a very important part of people’s lives. When we look at the global travel map for 2023, traditional hotspots like Paris, Barcelona and London remain firm favourites. But, we have also seen long-haul destinations like Bangkok, Las Vegas, and New York grow in popularity this year. That’s really exciting as it shows how travellers are embracing the plethora of choice, information and inspiration available to them thanks to new technologies like AI and increasingly influential social media platforms like Tik Tok.

“Turning to next year, we fully expect travellers to jump at the chance to discover new destinations, drawing on the immense choice they have at their fingertips. Again, while Paris and London claim the top spots for bookings so far, we’re seeing customers search for a rich mix of locations across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. 2024 is also characterised by a packed sporting calendar and we’re already seeing that have a big impact – searches for Paris are up 41% during the Olympics compared to the same period last year, for example.

“2023 has been a busy and exciting year for global travel. Overall, the data shows that, across the world, there continues to be a deeply held wanderlust and passion for travel.”