The ultimate guide to 2026 travel trends – including where AI falls short with your holiday needs

Not that we ever really need an excuse to book a holiday, tickets to a sold-out gig or a visit to the year’s biggest movie location are the perfect reason to hop on a plane, as we’ll see in 2026. 

Fan voyages are steadily on the rise following the success of things like Oasis’ comeback tour and Taylor Swift’s Eras spectacle, as people travel to destinations in the hopes of securing tickets they may have missed out on in their hometowns.

With a stellar line-up of 2026 concerts that include Ed Sheeran, U2, Lady Gaga and Charli XCX, we’re sure to see an influx of plane tickets purchased as fans flock to cities across the world to party with their favourite pop stars.

Equally, what has been dubbed as “set-jetting” by Gretchen Kelly in a New York Post article, visits to movie sets across the globe have risen, and 2026 is due to see a massive influx in film tourism.

Timothy Hughes, founder of CineMapper, the “Google maps for movies”, revealed: “Over the last year we’ve tracked millions of map interactions, destination searches and on-the-ground submissions, giving us a clear view of where travel behaviour is heading in 2026. 

“One trend stands out above everything else: set-jetting. Screen-inspired travel isn’t niche anymore; it’s becoming a core driver of trip decisions. Fans are building entire itineraries around filming locations and not just the usual blockbusters, but prestige TV, K-dramas, documentaries and streaming originals. We’re now seeing: 

• “Major surges to destinations featured in hit shows within days of release
• Travellers prioritising ’emotionally familiar’ places they’ve already connected with on screen
• Users planning micro-trips centred around one iconic spot, from European palaces to small-town cafés 
• A growing appetite for lesser-known regions that get a breakout moment on TV.”

He added: “2026 will also see travellers demanding what AI can’t yet replace: context, culture and story. People don’t just want ‘where to go’; they want the meaning behind a place, the scenes filmed there, and the feeling of stepping into a world they’ve already lived in through cinema.”