The 5 Large Travel Traits We’re Seeing for 2026, In response to Our Top Travel Specialists

Playing—not simply watching—sports activities

Traveling for the love of the sport is reaching a fever pitch in 2026 with the Winter Olympics in Italy, the FIFA World Cup in North America, and Formula 1 in all places from Monaco to Las Vegas. But followers are now not content material to sit down within the stands. They wish to get off the bench and play too. “Travel isn’t just about relaxation or sightseeing but also about pursuing what lights us up,” says Jacqui Weidman of SmartFlyer, whether or not that is on-field meet-and-greets with gamers on the Super Bowl or getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari and racing across the F1 monitor. A rising variety of motels are taking part in into athletic fandom too, says MaryDee Snow of MaryDeeTravel, whose shoppers attended the Rosewood Little Dix Tennis Cup to play with the professionals (and pack in some seaside time).

Clamoring for craft

Culinary experiences have lengthy been a number of the greatest methods to immerse ourselves in a vacation spot: cooking lessons in locals’ houses, visits to farms the place the meal you simply had was grown, meet-and-eats with star cooks. These days, advisers are seeing the same thirst for connecting with a spot and its folks by its craft traditions. But past the specialness of a one-of-a-kind memento (that monogrammed leather-based satchel from Scuola del Cuoio in Florence, that custom-designed shirt by a tailor in Chiang Mai), vacationers are eager to actually strive their hand at one thing new. Kerry Fee of Fee&Co says her shoppers wish to be taught on journeys the talents they in any other case would not of their busy lives again residence, like weaving in Peru or pottery making in Japan: “Time is a luxury, right? So using that time to engage with what speaks to you about a place is really special.” For Marcello Baglioni of Agave Travel Creative, which affords quick programs and workshop retreats created in partnership with the Accademia di Belle Arti Rosario Gagliardi Siracusa in Sicily, it is all about “sharing heritage expertise, honoring the local culture, and safeguarding knowledge for future generations.”

The journeys our Top Travel Specialists wish to plan for shoppers this yr

Ask me to plan: “A private-charter sailing around Svalbard aboard the world’s first solar-sailing polar vessel, operated by an all-female crew, with onboard scientists and experts providing daily briefings on Arctic history, climate, and exploration. You’ll see and learn about everything from polar bears along the shoreline to whales feeding in remote fjords.”—Virgi Schiffino Kennedy, Lux Voyage

Ask me to plan: “A ‘gas-train-omy’ trip. Take the Eurostar from London to Paris for lunch in a tucked-away locals-only bistro; then the two-hour TGV to Bordeaux for dinner and spa treatments at Les Sources de Caudalie, in the vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte; and then a morning train to San Sebastián in Spain for lunch with one of the city’s secretive Basque gastronomic societies.”—Tom Barber, Original Travel

Ask me to plan: “A jet-setting ‘parties and piety’ trip that visits the best pre-Lenten events in the world, from the grand balls of Carnival in Venice to the Fasching parades in Germany, then onward to Brazil for samba and glitter at Carnival in Rio, and then Mardi Gras in New Orleans. After all that indulgence, 40 days of lean living will feel welcome!”—Jeanne Polocheck, Well Traveled Texan

Ask me to plan: “A journey through Chile’s diverse landscapes, starting on remote Easter Island, for the mysterious moai and vibrant marine life. Then to the glaciers of majestic Torres del Paine National Park, the mesmerizing salt flats and clear night skies in Atacama Desert, and ending in the colorful city of Valparaíso for the local artistry.”—April Schmitt, Divine Travel Company