New data shows overseas travel demand still surging

New research from international tourism bodies, travel platforms and industry analysts indicates that global appetite for overseas trips remains strong into 2025 and 2026, with most travelers planning to maintain or even increase their international journeys despite economic and geopolitical headwinds.

Global arrivals climb as tourism returns to steady growth

International tourism indicators point to a sector that has not only recovered from the pandemic shock but is continuing to expand. Recent figures from UN Tourism show that worldwide international tourist arrivals reached around 1.52 billion in 2025, an increase of about 4 percent on the previous year and broadly in line with pre-pandemic growth patterns. The latest World Tourism Barometer describes this as a normalization after the sharp rebound of 2023 and 2024, suggesting that overseas travel demand is now embedded rather than merely driven by pent-up desire.

Tourism-focused coverage of the organization’s January 2026 outlook notes that this pace of expansion is expected to continue into 2026, with projected global growth in international arrivals of roughly 3 to 5 percent. That projection comes even as the broader economic backdrop remains mixed, with only modest global GDP growth and still-elevated services inflation in many markets. Analysts say the sustained rise in cross-border trips indicates that travelers are continuing to prioritize international travel in their budgets.

Air travel data tells a similar story. The International Air Transport Association has reported that global passenger demand reached record levels in 2024, with international traffic closing in on or surpassing pre-2019 benchmarks in many regions and further growth anticipated for 2025. Airline capacity continues to be added back on long-haul routes, especially between Europe and Asia Pacific, underscoring expectations that overseas leisure and business travel will keep rising.

Policy-focused analysis from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also characterizes tourism demand as “buoyant” over the medium term, noting that as supply constraints in aviation and hospitality ease, there remains room for outbound markets to expand. This combination of robust arrivals, record air traffic and upbeat institutional forecasts suggests that interest in overseas trips is not a short-lived spike but a durable trend.

Surveys show travelers planning more, not fewer, international trips

While official statistics track trips already taken, forward-looking surveys are providing insight into how people expect to travel in the next one to two years. Skyscanner’s latest Horizons travel trends research, based on global search data and consumer polling, reports that a large majority of respondents intend to travel as much or more in the coming years. Across several editions of the report, spanning 2025 and 2026, around eight in ten surveyed travelers said they plan to keep or increase their travel frequency.

The company’s most recent outlook, drawing on surveys of more than 20,000 travelers worldwide, finds that 84 percent of respondents expect to travel the same amount or more in 2026 compared with previous years, with nearly four in ten saying they will travel more. The appetite is particularly pronounced among younger cohorts, with Gen Z and millennial travelers most likely to say that international trips are becoming a higher priority in their spending.

Separate polling from International Medical Group, a major travel insurance provider, paints a complementary picture. Its 2026 Travel Outlook Survey, released in March 2026, reports continued strong interest in both domestic and international travel among policyholders. More than a third of respondents said they expect to spend more on travel in 2026 than they did in 2025, while over half plan to spend roughly the same amount, indicating that only a minority anticipate cutting back on trips.

Consumer sentiment studies in key outbound markets echo these findings. A 2025 travel industry outlook from Deloitte notes that international travel from the United States remains resilient, with spending on overseas trips tracking above domestic averages. Canadian and European surveys similarly suggest that many households are protecting their travel budgets even while adjusting other discretionary spending, reinforcing the idea that travel has become a non-negotiable category for a growing share of consumers.

Value consciousness shapes where and how people go abroad

Strong overall demand does not mean travelers are indifferent to price. Across multiple research reports, rising costs and affordability consistently rank as top concerns influencing overseas travel decisions. Skyscanner’s Horizons series highlights a sharp rise in the use of flexible search tools such as “Everywhere” and “cheapest month,” with about half of users now turning to destination-agnostic searches to find better-value international options.

Industry commentary on the latest data suggests that this behavior is reshaping where people go overseas. Analysis of global search trends for 2025 and 2026 shows heightened interest in destinations perceived as more affordable, including parts of Eastern Europe, secondary Mediterranean cities and long-haul locations where currency shifts or competitive airfares have made trips comparatively cheaper. At the same time, there is evidence that a growing number of travelers are willing to trade peak-season visits to marquee destinations for shoulder-season itineraries that stretch their budgets further.

Economists also describe a rebalancing across outbound markets rather than an outright slowdown. For instance, research from Canadian financial institutions in 2025 notes a pullback in short U.S. cross-border trips, offset by rising travel to other international destinations and within Canada itself. Similar patterns have been observed in Europe, where outbound travel to Asia Pacific has picked up as air connectivity improves and travelers seek new experiences at competitive prices.

For destinations and travel brands, this focus on value has encouraged a shift in marketing and product design. Tourism boards are highlighting lesser-known regions and experiences that offer more affordable stays, while airlines and tour operators promote bundled deals, off-peak fares and longer-stay packages. The underlying message from the data is that travelers may adjust where and how they travel abroad, but their determination to travel remains intact.

Emerging behaviors: quieter places, smarter planning and new tools

Beyond headline demand, recent research points to changing habits in the way people plan and experience overseas trips. Skyscanner’s analysis of emerging behaviors for 2025 and 2026 reports that more than a third of travelers now actively seek out quieter destinations, and around a third plan to visit traditionally popular places only during shoulder seasons. Many respondents say overcrowding has already had a negative impact on their travel, prompting them to look for alternative cities, rural regions or lesser-known islands when they go abroad.

At the same time, planning windows and booking patterns continue to evolve. The latest Horizons planning trends show that a significant share of travelers are mixing early bookings for key long-haul flights with more spontaneous decisions for accommodation and activities, using price alerts and multi-destination search tools to secure deals. This hybrid approach appears particularly common among younger travelers who are more comfortable adjusting itineraries on the fly.

The role of technology in organizing overseas travel is also expanding. Surveys across several travel trend reports indicate that more than half of respondents are now open to using artificial intelligence tools or chat-based assistants to help plan and book trips, up from under half just a year earlier. Travelers use these tools to compare destinations, generate itinerary ideas and monitor fare changes, even as many still express concerns about information accuracy and the need to double-check results across multiple sources.

Taken together, these behavioral shifts suggest that while the appetite for crossing borders is strong, travelers are becoming more deliberate about how they spend their time and money abroad. They are looking for quieter experiences, better value and more flexible planning options, all supported by an expanding ecosystem of digital tools.

Risks persist, but expectations for overseas travel stay upbeat

Despite the upbeat indicators, industry outlooks continue to flag several risks that could weigh on international travel. Reports from UN Tourism and economic forecasters highlight ongoing geopolitical tensions, regional conflicts and policy uncertainty in some major markets. Higher airfares linked to fuel costs and sustainability surcharges, as well as lingering inflation in accommodation and services, are also cited as potential brakes on growth.

There are also pockets of underperformance. Recent coverage of UN Tourism data notes that while global arrivals set a new record in 2025, North America saw a slight decline in international visitors, driven in part by weaker results in the United States. City-level tourism agencies in major U.S. destinations have reported similar patterns, with domestic visitors offsetting softer inbound numbers from key overseas markets such as Canada and Western Europe.

Nevertheless, most large-scale surveys and institutional forecasts remain cautiously optimistic. UN Tourism’s expert panel shows a clear majority expecting equal or better performance in 2026 than in 2025. Air travel organizations anticipate another year of rising passenger volumes on international routes, and travel insurer and platform surveys find that only a minority of consumers are planning to reduce their overseas travel.

For destinations, carriers and travelers, the implication is that international travel is entering a more mature, steady-growth phase after the volatility of the early 2020s. Appetite for overseas journeys remains strong, but success will increasingly depend on how well the industry manages costs, communicates risks and delivers the value and experiences that modern travelers are seeking.