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Next year, you could be checking into a haunted hotel, hiking for six hours to save your relationship or getting AI to deal with your work emails while you’re horizontal by the pool. All valid holiday choices, apparently. They’re among Booking.com’s travel predictions for 2027, based on research with more than 28,000 travellers across 32 countries and territories.
The findings suggest we’re getting a little more particular about our holidays. We want trips that match our mood, travel companions who won’t bankrupt us and, in some cases, a hotel with a suspicious past. Here’s what the experts predict:
1. Plot Twist Trip
Bali again? Not necessarily. Some of us are ready to throw our usual holiday habits out the window. Booking.com found that 73 per cent of Aussie travellers are keen to do something completely out of character on their next trip. Another 38 per cent want to surprise their friends and family with their choice.
2. Social Currency
Nothing tests a friendship quite like trying to agree on a holiday budget. One person wants the five-star resort; another is still looking at hostels. Booking.com found that 48 per cent of Aussie travellers have reconsidered who they travel with because of different budgets, while 34 per cent have cut someone from the group altogether. The group chat might never recover.
3. Vibe Check (In)
The question is no longer just “Where do you want to go?” but “How do you want to feel when you get there?” The study found that 78 per cent of Aussie travellers would choose a destination based on their desired mood, rather than the place itself.
4. The All Exclusive
The all-you-can-eat buffet might not be the holiday highlight it once was. With changing appetites, more people drinking less, and a growing focus on nutrition, travellers are rethinking all-inclusive packages and what they actually want to pay for.
5. Trip to the Beyond
Almost two-thirds of Aussie travellers are interested in the supernatural, whether that means visiting places with a spooky past, chasing paranormal encounters or exploring destinations tied to death and the afterlife. Each to their own. Just don't complain about the hotel noises at 3am if you booked it because it's haunted.
6. PTO: Powered by ATO
Is AI the answer to the dreaded post-holiday inbox? Apparently, 60 per cent of travellers are interested in having it cover their work while they're away. Another 46 per cent would ask it to catch them up when they return, potentially even earning themselves an extra day off.
7. Hotel in the Sky
The in-flight skincare routine has come a long way from a dab of moisturiser and a sheet mask pulled over your eyes. Now, we want the whole wellness experience at 35,000 feet, with 93 per cent willing to take a long-haul flight if it meant arriving feeling rested and refreshed. A designated quiet zone, away from the kids, would also tempt 28 per cent of travellers.
8. Sweat Synergy
Making friends as an adult is awkward. You can't exactly walk up to someone at the supermarket and ask if they want to hang out on Saturday. But ask them to run ten kilometres with you at the crack of dawn? Apparently, that's a thing. Booking.com predicts more solo travellers will use fitness events and active holidays to meet people in 2027.
9. Trailside Therapy
Some partners are apparently keen to work through their issues on a long hike, with plenty of fresh air and nowhere to hide from the conversation. The idea is that walking side by side makes the difficult chats a little easier. It could be a relationship breakthrough, or an extremely expensive argument in hiking boots. Either way, pack snacks.