Holidays
‘They want something different’: Two new reports predict a big shift in travel behavior in 2025
The biggest travel trend of 2022 was to go big, spend big — with people eagerly booking bucket list-style trips to places like Bali, Rome, London and Paris. But two new reports show travelers are now in a very different headspace. Trend reports from Expedia and Booking.com show vacationers are forgoing splashy trips to global […]
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Overtourism: It’s not the tourists — it’s local ‘lack of management,’ says sustainability expert
Crowded beaches. Expensive rent. Tourist sites with wall-to-wall people. When it comes to overtourism, don’t blame the travelers, said Randy Durband, CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Rather, it’s “lack of management,” he told “Squawk Box Asia” Monday. “I’ve been in travel and tourism for 40 years, working on committees and trade associations […]
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Protesters in Spain told tourists to ‘go home.’ Instead more arrived.
On July 6, thousands of anti-tourism protesters marched through the streets of Barcelona, shouting: “Tourists go home!” A little more than a month later, Spain’s tourism board sent a mass email with a different message: “Spain: the summer you’ll want to repeat every year … We can’t wait to see you!” Tourists caught in the […]
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‘She doesn’t stop talking’: How extroverts unknowingly irritate fellow travelers
My husband — a brooding New Yorker, polite and tolerant of much — broke on the seventh day of our family vacation. “She doesn’t stop talking,” he said. The “she“ is my mother — a bubbly Midwesterner — who can hold court in a room of strangers with the deftness of a small-town politician at […]
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A private island for $1,000 per night — for those who are willing to get there
When Richard Kvech first set foot on Pinang four years ago, a dilapidated bungalow used by passing fishermen was the only sign of human life on the island. Kvech and three friends, all from the Czech Republic, slept in hammocks and cooked on the beach, while dreaming of creating an eco-retreat on the 50-hectare Indonesian […]
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‘Golden Week’ bookings show Chinese travel preferences are evolving
Outbound travel from China is set to receive a much-anticipated jolt as “Golden Week” bookings show changes in where and why Chinese people are traveling. Buoyed by falling airfares, Chinese travelers are booking more overseas trips for the National Day holiday period, which extends from Oct. 1 to 7, according to Fliggy, a major travel […]
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‘Coolcations’ had another big summer. Here are the places travelers went
Extreme temperatures are driving travelers to seek cooler destinations. And there’s a term for the trend: “coolcations.” Heat waves — which are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — are affecting where people are choosing to vacation, especially during the hot summer months. “Often, when we think of vacation, […]
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The unspoken rules of celebrating Oktoberfest in Munich
Oktoberfest is a worldwide phenomenon, a Bavarian beer festival celebrated in countries around the globe. But many say nowhere is it more fun than in its original home of Munich. The festival attracts some six million celebrants every year, according to a festival website operated by Munich’s Department of Labor and Economics. As a non-Bavarian […]
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Gen Z and millennials are increasingly ‘doom spending.’ Here’s what it is and how to stop it
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Some young people are splashing out on luxuries like travel and designer clothes instead of saving, in a trend that’s being characterized as “doom spending” on social media. Doom spending is when a person mindlessly shops to self-soothe because they feel pessimistic about the economy and their future, according […]
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People like traveling, but hate planning. Hear how Booking Holdings CEO plans to change that
Most people like traveling. But far fewer enjoy booking it. A survey of more than 2,400 people who book their own travel arrangements found that 71% say the process is at least somewhat stressful for them, according to a 2024 survey by the consumer data company CivicScience. The percentage is even higher among parents of kids […]
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