Travelling in 2027: from destinations to experiences – how holidays are changing

Travel remains a priority, but travellers are choosing more carefully where, when and with whom to travel. According to Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams ODIGEO, early signs point to another potential record-breaking year in 2027, whilst agent-based artificial intelligence has already moved from concept to reality to help travellers discover and book trips. In its traditional end-of-year ‘A Year in Travel’ report, the platform shines a spotlight on favourite destinations, booking and search trends, new traveller habits and evolving expectations.

Paris, Madrid and London are the cities most frequently booked by Italians for flights in 2027, in a top ten of destinations that also includes Sharm el-Sheikh and New York, whilst Rome is the only Italian destination. Looking instead at online flight searches carried out by Italians, interest extends further afield, reaching as far as Tokyo, which tops this special ranking ahead of three other Asian destinations: Bangkok, Malé (Maldives) and Phuket. Rome, for its part, remains a destination that never goes out of fashion, ranking fourth amongst destinations booked for international flights and first for international hotel bookings. Major events, as has already been the case this year, will play a significant role in shaping travel plans and are increasingly becoming a reason to travel, sometimes even before the rest of the itinerary has been finalised. Searches for Bulgaria, for example, have risen by 390 per cent following its victory at Eurovision 2026 and in the run-up to next May’s contest; searches related to the Australian leg of K-pop group BTS’s world tour have risen by 43 per cent, and the announcement of Oasis’s spring tour in Europe has caused searches for Glasgow and Munich to soar by 2,380 per cent and 1,605 per cent respectively.

According to the eDreams ODIGEO report, in 2026 Italians mainly chose short- and medium-haul destinations, with Barcelona being the most booked city for flights, followed by Tirana and Paris, whilst Catania was the top Italian destination in the top ten. Compared with 2025, Turin (+59 per cent), Naples (+57 per cent) and Bordeaux – as the top foreign destination – are all on the rise. These figures illustrate a tourism sector that continues to combine well-known cities with up-and-coming destinations, without shifting the entire focus of holidays towards long-haul travel.

Cities also dominate the hotel sector: Rome ranks first in terms of bookings by Italians, ahead of Milan and Barcelona. The most marked growth, however, is in Tirana, where hotel bookings have more than doubled. Internationally, Rome ranks fourth for overnight stays, whilst Cagliari – and Porto Sa Ruxi in particular – has seen the sharpest rise (+78 per cent). The importance of so-called ‘short breaks’ (weekends or other short stays) remains significant in 2026: 37 per cent of Italians’ flight bookings are for trips lasting three or four days, and 69 per cent of hotel bookings are for one or two nights.

Finally, here are two interesting facts relating to travel habits that are set to continue into the new year. For over a third of travellers (38 per cent, to be precise), travelling alone is primarily driven by a desire for freedom and independence. Italians, along with Spaniards, stand out for a more relational reason, with 23 per cent seeing solo travel as a way to feel more in tune with the world around them. Finally, social media also proves to be a factor in choosing a destination, with 44 per cent of Italians confirming that they have been influenced by content on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and so on.