Call it a travel comeback – G Adventures has revealed the in-demand international destinations where it is seeing the most traction in terms of forward bookings, thanks to people’s evolving reasons to travel and exciting new reasons to visit fave places.
According to G Adventures, travellers are looking at so-called ‘traditional’ destinations in a new way that gets them closer to the cultures and traditions and gives back to local communities.
Its Where to Travel list for 2024 features locations that focus on meaningful community tourism experiences along with places with new and noteworthy reasons to visit.
Topping the list is Japan – G Adventures reports a 134 per cent increase in 2024 bookings and expects the trend to continue with the uptake of its new Japan itinerary as part of the new Geluxe Collection of premium active trips.
Portugal has also seen standout growth for the tour operator with traveller numbers tripling since 2019 and up 33 per cent compared to 2022.
Uzbekistan – and the ‘Stans in general – have become quite the hotspot as people look to lesser-known countries. Uzbekistan has seen a 53 per cent increase year over year, up 16 per cent on 2019.
Rounding out the top five are India, with bookings doubling between 2022 and 2023, and Mexico, up 24 per cent on 2019 and 28 per cent on last year.
Other trending destinations in the top 10 list include Vietnam (6), the Insta-fave Greece (7), Thailand (8), South Korea (9) and Italy in the number 10 slot – another popular post-COVID hotspot.
G Adventures Founder Bruce Poon Tip said the booking data reflects how travellers have changed over the past three years.
“What we’re seeing is that people want to stay longer and go deeper. They’re travelling less frequently and staying longer in a single destination. And while they are there they want to connect with local people and their cultures and experience community tourism in its purest form,” he said.
“We’re also still seeing a lot of travellers checking off those big bucket-list trips with many still making up for lost time and they’re keen to stay active when they travel – that’s why we’re seeing such huge growth in some of our most iconic locations,” he added.
For more info, head to gadventures.com
