Global travel forecast 2024: Asia emerges as the top hotspot.

Many American travelers have recently shown a tendency to seek out longer trips in 2024. Experts predict that in 2024, travelers will tend to choose destinations in major Asian hubs and emerging locations in Europe.

"2024 is the year for traveling the world," Airbnb wrote last month.

According to Steve Hafner, CEO of the travel website Kayak, international travel is booming, with searches for international flights up 13% year-on-year, despite prices being about 10% higher.

"Americans are looking to go overseas. They've been working domestically for the past few years," Hafner emphasized.

Here are the trending travel destinations for Americans in 2024:

Asia continues to be a top hotspot.

The Asia-Pacific region was a favorite destination for Americans in 2023, and Americans' love for the region is expected to continue into the new year.

According to the travel app Hopper, destinations such as Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (South Korea) are the top 1st and 2nd-ranked international hotspots in 2024 for travelers from the United States.

Search data provided by Kayak also shows a similar trend. The top 5 hotspots chosen by American travelers in Asia are Hong Kong; Shanghai; Taiwan (China) and Tokyo, Osaka (Japan).

According to Kayak, the number of searches for Hong Kong (China) and Shanghai (China) increased by 355% and 216% respectively compared to the same period last year.

The travel website analyzed search volume among Americans from March 16 to September 15, 2023, to forecast travel trends for 2024 and compare them to the same period last year.

Japan is also ranked as a destination attracting a large number of tourists from other countries. Destinations such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo are among the top 24 destinations in the world next year, according to Airbnb data.

Nevertheless, Asian countries were among the slowest to ease border restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Experts also believe that now that borders are reopening, international tourists may be unleashing a passion for travel that has been suppressed for too long due to the pandemic, and they are choosing to visit countries in this continent.

Sofia Markovich, travel consultant and founder of Sofia's Travel, emphasizes that foreign tourists may have been unable to travel to Asia for a long time and are now trying to do so to satisfy a pent-up desire.

Mr. Hafner said that China reopened its borders in January 2023, "one of the last countries" ready to ease restrictions on Covid-19.

And Japan reopened to tourists starting in June 2022. Several factors contributed to the growing interest of international travelers in the country. According to Mr. Hafner, the value of the dollar against the Japanese yen and other currencies gave Americans additional purchasing power and more flights from budget airlines.

Airbnb predicts that the number of destination searches in Japan will more than triple for trips in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 – a larger increase than any other country.

Meanwhile, Hayley Berg, chief economist at Hopper, also emphasized that historically, Tokyo has been the most visited city in Asia by Americans. Demand is "even greater" than usual.

According to Hopper, travelers may be willing to pay a huge premium to fly to Asia in 2024. The average airfare to the country is $1,204 in 2024 – 45% higher than in 2019, a much larger increase than in other continents.

New destinations help alleviate overcrowding in Europe.

Experts also say that overcrowding at traditional European destinations is driving large numbers of tourists to more distant cities.

For example, Stockholm (Sweden); Budapest (Hungary); Helsinki (Finland) and Prague (Czech Republic) ranked from 7th to 10th respectively on Kayak's list of trending overseas destinations.

Meanwhile, Copenhagen (Denmark) ranked 4th on the 2024 travel hotspot ranking according to the Hopper travel app. Prague (Czech Republic) and Edinburgh (Scotland) ranked 7th and 8th respectively.

According to experts, people often want to explore familiar destinations such as cities like Paris, Rome, London, and Barcelona. However, the number of visitors to these places is becoming too high, so international tourists will choose other destinations in 2024.

Expert Hafner from Kayak predicted that travel to Scandinavia would be a popular choice in 2024 because it would "not be affected by tourism overload." Additionally, Finland became a member of the NATO military alliance in 2023, raising American awareness of the country.

In addition, cities like Budapest and Prague have also become popular, but they still lag behind some of Europe's "tourism magnets." One of the biggest tourist magnets in 2024 is Paris. France is poised for another boom this year, promising to be the City of Lights and host the 2024 Summer Olympics.

According to data from Hopper, demand for flights to Paris and surrounding cities during the Olympic Games has more than doubled compared to this time last year.

Relatively lower prices for some lesser-known destinations in Europe are also likely to attract international tourists. Typically, average flights to Europe will be 5% more expensive in 2024 compared to 2023, at $717.

Tropical Atlantic region in the Caribbean Sea

Expert Berg from Hopper also noted that while places like Mexico City's Cancun remain popular warm-weather beach destinations, Americans are opting for tropical Atlantic vacations in the Caribbean.

"This is something new this year that we're starting to see emerge, and the trend will certainly continue into 2024," said Berg.

Although not located on the Atlantic Ocean, Málaga, a Mediterranean port city on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, ranks 6th on Kayak's list. The Andalusian city averages around 300 sunny days a year and, according to a recent report, is also the number one city in the world for expats.

Kayak's data shows that search interest there has increased by 60% compared to the same period last year.

Ski tourism in Canada is experiencing a "renaissance".

Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal in Canada ranked 3rd, 5th, and 6th, respectively, on Hopper's list of trending international destinations for 2024. Expert Berg suggests that winter travel could play a significant role.

"We've seen a real resurgence of ski resorts in Canada. They're competing with a lot of ski resorts in Europe," Berg said.

In addition, air travel to Canada is often only about one-third the price of a trip to Europe, Berg added.