Skyscanner releases 2024 Travel Insights across EMEA, AMER, and APAC regions
Global travel platform Skyscanner has unveiled its latest Horizon report shedding light on booking trends, destination preferences, and emerging travel hotspots across the EMEA, AMER, and APAC regions.
The report’s key findings include:
Booking windows reflect forward planning:
According to Skyscanner’s report, travellers across all regions are demonstrating a propensity to plan ahead compared to the previous year, indicating a return to traditional seasonal travel patterns in 2024.
- Travellers in EMEA are notably confident, showing increased bookings made well in advance, particularly in the 60-89 and 90+ day windows.
- Similarly, in AMER, there’s a trend of booking further out, with a notable increase in reservations made over 90 days in advance, accounting for a third of demand.
- APAC travellers are displaying a diverse distribution of booking windows, with an overall rise in bookings made over 30 days in advance, including a 2% increase in the 90+ day segment.
Travellers’ choices of destinations underscore regional inclinations:
- The report highlights that Europe remains a prominent choice for 53% of EMEA travellers, showing a 4% increase from the previous year. Southeast Asia is also gaining traction, possibly due to its proximity and affordability.
- The Horizon findings also show AMER travellers exhibiting interest in South America and North Asia alongside traditional European favorites, signaling a shift towards new experiences and value-oriented travel.
- APAC travellers are increasingly favoring intra-regional destinations, with a noticeable decline in trips to Europe compared to the previous year, indicating a preference for shorter, budget-friendly vacations.
Average trip durations to popular destinations across all regions have either decreased or remained stagnant compared to the previous year:
- Skyscanner’s Horizon report points out that Spanish and Greek destinations are popular among EMEA travellers, with Bangkok, New York City, and Sydney also attracting interest for long-haul travel.
- Skyscanner adds global destinations, with “Everywhere” being the top search term, followed by Tokyo and European capitals. South American destinations like San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina and Orlando, Florida, are also popular choices.
- European and US destinations dominate, with Athens experiencing a notable increase in trip length. “Everywhere” remains a popular search term, while Tokyo stands out as the only destination with a single-digit trip length.
Destinations witnessing significant year-on-year increases in search volumes indicate a blend of curiosity for new places and the introduction of new travel routes:
- According to Skyscanner’s study, Victoria, Canada; Marmagao, India; Panama City; Bol, Croatia; Pristina, Kosovo; and Lampedusa, Italy are among the trending destinations in EMEA.
- For the AMER region, trending destinations include San Carlos de Bariloche, Tokyo, Madrid, and Orlando, alongside Medellin, Colombia; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Ushuaia, Argentina; Porto Seguro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Tunis, Tunisia.
- In APAC, New Delhi, India, and Shanghai, China, lead the trend in APAC, along with Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Victoria, Canada. Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia, shows an increase in average trip length among trending destinations.
Zeynep Mutlu Bigalı, Head of Destination Partnerships at Skyscanner, remarked, “Our latest Horizon insights reveal a travel landscape that is both familiar and evolving… As we head into the summer, especially in regions such as Europe, North America, and North Asia.”
Also worth noting is that at the outset of 2024, Skyscanner experienced record travel demand, surpassing the global flights market and emerging as the fastest-growing metasearch platform in 2023.
