Shorter trips, longer booking windows – Skyscanner reveals latest global travel outlook

“While traditional seasonality is returning and popular destinations remain in demand, travellers are also seeking value and exploring options closer to home.” Skyscanner Head of Destination Partnerships Zeynep Mutlu Bigali sums up several of the key findings in the global travel platform’s latest research, released in late March.

The company’s forward-looking Travel Insight data compares traveller behaviour and search trends year-on-year across Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Americas and Asia Pacific markets.

Importantly, Skyscanner highlighted improved airline connectivity and seat capacity year-on-year, which should encourage further travel bookings in 2024.

Across the board, travellers are planning further ahead compared to the previous year, marking a return to traditional seasonality in 2024, said Skyscanner.

“Alongside booking windows stabilising year-on-year, we are seeing increases in search volumes to destinations closer to home, like EMEA travellers choosing Europe, as well as a shortening of trip lengths, especially for long-haul travel, as travellers increasingly look for value,” the report states.

In EMEA, booking windows in early 2024 remain similar to the same period last year, but Skyscanner highlighted a +1% rise in the longest booking windows of 60-89 and 90+ days, with 90+ days making up 37% of demand in the region.

In the Americas, travellers are booking further out, with a +3% increase in the share of the longest booking window (90+ days), which now makes up one-third of demand.

Among Asia Pacific travellers there is a greater distribution of booking windows compared to other regions but an overall increase in bookings over 30 days (including a +2% jump in the 90+ day segment). Booking windows of two months or more now represent over a third of demand in this region.

Destination choices

At 53%, more EMEA travellers (+4%) are choosing Europe as a summer holiday destination in 2024 compared to last year. Southeast Asia (+1% year-on-year) also shows an increase, with 12% of EMEA travellers choosing to visit the region.

This shift in regional choice, says Skyscanner, is being primarily driven by a -4% decline in North American bookings from EMEA.

“It’s likely the strength of the US Dollar is encouraging some travellers in this region to seek more affordability and low-cost travel closer to home. Outside of this changing demand, the continent destination choice is broadly in line with 2023.”

With a diverse destination mix, Americas travellers are showing a growing interest in South America and North Asia, alongside traditional favourites in Europe, indicating a shift towards new experiences and value in 2024, notes Skyscanner.

As last year, the most popular region for Americas travellers between June and August is Europe, though this is down -1% from 2023. By contrast there is a +3% increase to South America, a +2% increase to North Asia and a +1% increase to Southeast Asia.

“The shift in destination mix to South America is likely due to its increasing popularity among US and Canadian travellers, as well as the availability of more affordable flights,” the report advises.

Asia Pacific travellers are turning their focus more towards intra-regional destinations, with a -10% decrease in trips to Europe this summer compared to last year. This reflects a preference for shorter, more budget-friendly vacations, says the research. More people are choosing North Asia (+4%) and Southeast Asia (+1%) in particular.

“Seat capacity is returning to the region and many travellers are indicating a desire to swap long-haul trips with short or medium ones, or even domestic trips (with an eye on their budget to help keep costs down).”

Shorter trip lengths

Across all regions, average trip lengths are slightly down or flat year-on-year for many popular destinations.

In EMEA, Spanish and Greek destinations dominate the most popular searched on Skyscanner, taking six of the global top ten places for 2024, with an average trip length of six to eight days.

Bangkok is the highest ranked long-haul destination, with New York City and Sydney also making the top ten, with average trip lengths of between 11 and 15 days.

‘Everywhere’ remains very popular as travellers search for inspiration, with 51% of site visitors coming to Skyscanner without a destination or specific dates in mind. Across the board, average trip lengths are flat year-on-year for short-haul destinations, while for long haul they are down by one to two days overall.

EMEA travellers are attracted by a mix of long-haul beach and city spots, plus lesser-known places in Europe.

Victoria, the capital of British Columbia in Canada, and Marmagao in India’s southern state of Goa, have accelerated in interest by over +1,600% compared to the same period last year, with Panama City growing by over +1,300%. All have an average trip length of around two weeks.

Three emerging European destinations make up the top ten. These include Bol, on the Croatian island of Brač; the Kosovan capital of Pristana and Lampedusa, the largest of the Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean.

Average trip lengths are down for each destination, except for La Romana in the Dominican Republic and Pristina, where they remain the same, and Tulum, Mexico, which sees a slight increase.

Global cities make up Americas travellers’ most searched-for summer destinations in 2024.

‘Everywhere’ tops the list, followed by Tokyo. European capital cities such as Rome, Madrid, Paris and Athens are all popular, with an average trip length of 12 to 15 days.

Within the Americas region, San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina and Orlando, Florida claim the fourth and fifth spots, with shorter trip lengths of seven and nine days respectively.

Other regional destinations throughout the Americas are also high in the search rankings, including Medellin in Colombia, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Ushuaia in Argentina, Porto Seguro in Brazil and Santiago, Chile – with travellers choosing to visit each for between eight and ten days. Also in the top ten is Tunis.

Asian destinations include Manila and Bangkok with longer trip lengths of around 20 days and 15 days respectively. Across the board, average trip lengths have declined from 2023.

The top destinations for Asia Pacific travellers between June and August are well-known European and US places, which make up most of the list. Athens, coming in fifth, has the biggest increase in trip length – up 11 days from the year before.

The most trending destinations for travellers are within the region itself, with New Delhi and Shanghai experiencing the biggest growth in searches compared to the same period last year.

Outside the region, Jeddah, Dubrovnik and Victoria are also trending – with an average trip length between 11 and 14 days.

Pangkalan Bun in Borneo, Indonesia is the only trending destination with an increase in average trip length, moving from four to seven days.

Trip length is down across the board as travellers in Asia Pacific, much like those in other regions, search for shorter trips.

Like the other regions, ‘Everywhere’ places high on the list, illustrating that travellers – no matter where they live – want help discovering destinations to visit.

Skyscanner is visited by 110 million users each month.