Trends shaping 2022 travel recovery revealed in new Skyscanner report

LONDON – Travel marketplace Skyscanner is publishing a new report exploring the latest trends in global travel. Titled Skyscanner Horizons: Travel’s resilience and trends shaping recovery, the report combines consumer polling with extensive flight search and booking data from each region – the Americas, APAC and EMEA – to provide a comprehensive view of 2022 travel demand.

Unique and in-depth analysis of key indicators such as travel spend, booking horizons, haul type, trip length, trending destinations and how they compare to pre-pandemic provides unrivalled insights for the sector.

The report also features exclusive expert commentary on these trends shaping recovery from industry thought leaders such as Hugh Aitken, Skyscanner VP of Flights, Nick Hall, CEO of Digital Tourism Think Tank, Marco Navarria, Global Content and Marketing Director, CAPA and John Strickland, Director JLS Consulting.

Key findings include:

  • 86% of travellers plan to spend more or the same on international travel than they did in 2019, with half planning to spend more.
  • Of those spending more, 48% are putting this money towards longer trips and 43% towards accommodation upgrades. But travellers do remain price conscious.
  • Shorter booking horizons remain popular in all regions, but there’s growth in 30-59- and 60-89-day segments as confidence accelerates and seasonality starts to return.
  • Seasonality is reflected in trip length as demand for longer holidays grows for key summer and winter periods.
  • Demand for domestic and short-haul flights is higher than pre-pandemic, but long-haul travel is making a comeback.
  • Travellers cite ultimate relaxation holidays, followed by bucket list travel and city breaks, as the top trip types for this year.
  • Doha is the world’s top trending destination, with the biggest rise in searches compared to two years ago.
  • Other top trending destinations are a mix of short and long haul as new routes are launched, countries re-open and travellers seek to reunite with friends and family.