The global travel market Skyscanner has released a new report on the current global travel trends. The analysis, titled Skyscanner Horizons: Destination & Booking Insights Q1 2023, unpacks and analyses substantial airline search and booking data from each area – the Americas, APAC, and EMEA – to present a unique perspective on how travelers are thinking about travel over the next six months.
For every company operating within the travel ecosystem, analysis of important indicators, such as booking windows divided by haul type and trending destinations, offers unmatched insights.
Ahead-of-the-curve industry thought leaders including Mike Ferguson from Skyscanner, Marco Navarria from the Centre for Aviation, and Nick Hall from the Digital Tourism Think Tank provide exclusive professional insight on these trends in the report.
“Globally, we’re seeing more travellers come to Skyscanner than ever before. It’s indicative of both the sector’s continued recovery and the exceptional travel demand across all regions. Destinations, particularly in APAC, are benefitting from increased search volumes compared to last year and, at the same time, long-haul booking windows are lengthening. Long-haul international travel has been slower to recover than other segments, but 2023 looks set to change that.”
Mike Ferguson, Director of Destination Marketing at Skyscanner
“Skyscanner’s important Horizons report once again reaffirms the industry results CAPA has seen within the Aviation industry. The report has highlighted that the majority of trending destinations for summer travel are in Asia Pacific. CAPA data shows that Asia Pacific airlines posted a +376.3% increase in Jan-2023 international traffic compared to Jan-2022, by far the strongest year-over-year rate among all the world’s regions, but off a very low base. Capacity rose 167.1% and the load factor increased 36.6 percentage points to 83.3%, the highest among the regions.”
Marco Navarria, Global Content and Marketing Director at CAPA
Important Skyscanner report conclusions for each region
Skyscanner report: Global
With +90 day booking windows for long haul travel up across all regions, signaling both traveler confidence and demand, the majority of trending destinations for Q2 and Q3 travel are in APAC, with Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan benefiting. Search share is moving in line with pre-pandemic seasonal norms.
EMEA
Summer travel is anticipated by EMEA travelers, who will have extended booking windows for both short- and long-haul travel.
As travel planning becomes more routine, all booking windows are tracking search behavior close to that of 2019.
Travelers from the EMEA region are eager to visit Asian countries once more, with search demand for Taiwan, Japan, and Laos rising compared to 2022. Short-term demand is high for places like Saudi Arabia and China; throughout Q2 and Q3, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam were all popular destinations.
The only trending European location in the top 10 is Albania, where search demand has grown year over year.
AMER
Longer booking windows, especially those of 60-89 days or more, are encouraging AMER travelers to book in advance for all haul kinds.
Short-haul booking periods fluctuate compared to 2019, but long-haul travel returns to pre-pandemic averages.
Travelers from AMER are keen to visit Asia again because the region is experiencing a surge in search demand compared to 2022. Throughout Q2 and Q3, other extended-haul locations like Morocco, New Zealand, and Norway are also popular.
Fiji, a location on many people’s bucket lists, has grown search demand year over year, especially in July and August.
APAC
Long-haul travel is on travelers’ minds in APAC as booking windows expand across all segments from a week to 90 days.
It will be some time until APAC booking windows return to 2019 norms for all haul categories.
Search volumes for Taiwan, Laos, and Japan have significantly increased since 2022, making them popular tourist destinations in the APAC region.
‘Everywhere’ is a popular trending search term for APAC travelers looking for inspiration, while European destinations Austria and Hungary experience an increase in search demand year over year.
In Q2 and Q3, more than two thirds of trending search volumes come from Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.