What are your travel predictions for 2022? — Share your anticipated travel trends for next year

We're polling the Travel Massive community for your predictions for travel in 2022.

🏆 The top 3 most upvoted answers will get some merch from our new Travel Massive store, and we'll feature the best answers in our community newsletter.

👉 Here's a few examples of predictions you could answer: What destinations will be popular? What new technologies will launch to help travelers? Will there be new modes of transport? How will cities change to attract new people?

✅ RULES: Be creative, positive, and ambitious — we're creating the future!

After doing some travel in the Middle East and Africa recently and bumping up against some roadblocks, I am predicting (but really just wishing) for a global vaccine passport which will expedite travel for people around the world and help this struggling industry rebound in 2022.

* Robotaxis will launch in San Francisco, Las Vegas & Miami (& Germany / China too), leading to a rush of innovations that use these vehicles within a tourism & hospitality context. For an example of how this may look, watch this video
* Blockchain will have a breakthrough year - specifically SSI (Self Sovereign Identities) within hotels & hospitality, and DAOs replacing some traditional functions currently done by DMOs. Not for bookings & distribution (at scale), but for satellite developments around the edges. Early days still.

And sorry 2022 but 2021 has already seen autonomous flying vehicles operating for tourism ;)

I'm still bullish on hyper-local travel continuing to be popular. I'm excited to see which destinations and towns emerge as this trend continues.

I'm going to say less technology, more of a return to simple, slow, nostalgic travel. I think we're going to see a stronger backlash against overtourism, and people venturing to places that are rustic and nature-centric. Most importantly, I think we're going to see people wanting to be immersed into a culture in deeper ways - not just sightseeing, but getting to know the people and their traditions. At least I hope so :)

I think the tourism world in 2022 is very bright! And different. I think we’re going to see a unique “hybrid” world where guides and guests connect in both the virtual and physical worlds. A guest might experience a virtual tour, fall in love with the location, then travel there to experience it in real life. Or a guest might do a tour in real life, fall in love with the area, and do more virtual tours of the area once they return home from their trip. It’ll create a very unique relationship with guides and guests everywhere and allow, for the first time, guides to increase their repeat business astronomically. I do think the virtual experiences are here to stay as a supplement to guides, but will be instrumental to generating physical tours.

I think it might be harder to find cheap travel deals in 2022!

Electronic passports and vaccination records that can be used globally. If they were secure, wouldn't that make life easier!

The 2022 I'd like to see is a year where we embrace all of the possible ways to reduce travel's climate impact.

More specifically, travellers embrace slower train journeys to replace quick flights.

We're seeing this in Scotland already, with a new train service from London called Lumo, that make it cheaper and easier for those in London or visiting London to travel to Scotland by train.

We're hosting an event about 'travel futures' next week. The aim is to come up with plausible futures for 2030, and then think of the future technology needs for entrepreneurs to work on: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/traveltech-futures-anticipating-and-shaping-the-next-decade-of-travel-tickets-207138535937 - Join us!

I think there will be a lot more use of travel agents and a return to traditional package tours. People will be wary of the do-it-yourself approach because plans have become liable to change at short notice (either because they contract Covid or because the rules have changed) and they will want to know that they can reschedule or get their money back.

I'm predicting the emergence of even more 'nomadic lifestyle travel'.

Where a traveling lifestyle combines exploration, career and even greater time chasing dreams, passions and sports around the world.

People choosing this lifestyle will develop stronger bonds and more engagement with local communities too.

After 18 months of closed doors, SafeScore is holding the (optimistic) prediction that the world will re-open in a kinder, and more conscientious manner

With regards to travel, this means travellers opting for more socially impactful trips. This could be in the form of giving back to local communities which have been so damaged by a lack of tourism. Spending money locally, conscientiously learning more about smaller communities and reducing the tourist footprint are elements of this.

Additionally, green travel is a clear headliner for 2022!

Whether this is in the form of a low-emissions journey, eco-friendly accommodation, or the entire trip, we feel that customers will look to have socially and environmentally-friendly holidays, both for themselves, and for the destination they're visiting 🌎

Seeking relief in Nature to disconnect from digital overload will be huge.

With the major shift happening in the workplace, it seems that this will spill over into how and where people spend both their work & leisure time. Instead of making plans to get away from offices filled with their co-workers, people will now plan to physically engage with their teams in a variety of settings and locations.

While meeting in an office doesn't take much (any) coordination, meeting in a one-off setting does. We're working to make it easy to plan, organize and execute these meet-ups so people can simply come together.

While I'm a strong advocate for slow, extended travel, just because we start traveling again doesn't mean people will automatically get more vacation days. For example, 12 days of vacation in the US isn't automatically going to morph into 4 weeks of vacation just because travel resumes. But the future of work - remote offices - will mean more people outside of the travel industry will embrace a nomadic work situation where they can shift their base while enjoying the perks of travel - experiencing some place new.

This also means cities would have to advertise for and market towards longer stay visitors. In turn, countries will relax some of their working visa requirements to entice these types of remote working travelers, who revitalize the local tourism landscape.

The pandemic also brought a significant change in our online behaviors and expediated ordering services for convenience, so people will be doing a lot more online shopping, ordering food, and enjoying virtual experiences, even during their travels. The pandemic shut borders down and technology will continue to open them up virtually and in ways that are more accessible than even before the pandemic.

As we enter a new rising wave of COVID infections, rebooking fees for airlines will quickly become a thing of the past. To stay top of mind, airlines may institute no rebooking fees for the next 3-5 years. Airlines may even start covering the costs of PCR tests for passengers to encourage travel.

We all know the buzz phrase, "revenge travel" and this is what's going to make quintessential bucket list destinations such as the Maldives, Greenland, Mongolia, the islands of the South Pacific, for example, quite popular in 2022, if their borders remain open.

Here's hoping 2022 brings real change within the industry and that we've collectively learned our lessons due to the pandemic.

Travel in 2022 🗓 ✈️
Let's start with the fun trends for 2022!
👪 Multi-generational travel. Covid offered us a moment to pause and reflect on our values and what’s truly important in life. Many cite quality time with their family and loved ones as the greatest unexpected gift Covid gave us. Travelers are now consciously choosing to prioritize these moments, and we are already witnessing a rise in multi-generational travel, especially around memorializing moments missed due to Covid. Grandparents are excited to take their grandchildren on trips to celebrate landmark moments in their life, such as graduations, birthdays, or first jobs, and we can expect to see this trend continue to rise into 2022.

🚲 Pedalling into 2022! Planes, trains, and….bikes actually. Biking experiences are loving life as travelers seek out this active (and green) way of travel. City tours by bike are very popular, as are full-fledged biking trips with dedicated guides.

🏡 Sustainable Stays. Just as Covid impacted our change in values in regards to spending quality time with loved ones, it has also impacted our view of the planet. Never before have we been so confronted with the interconnectedness of the world and the impact a single person can make on a global level. Sustainability has been a rising trend for a number of years now, but whereas we were previously seeing a broad interest, we are now seeing travelers hyper-focus their choices around positive impact. Accommodation is one of the pronounced areas in the travel sphere we see travelers zero-in on and we expect this focus on accommodations to rise in 2022. LEED Certified properties, locally sourced toiletries, low water usage...these are just a number of amenities that we can expect 2022 travelers to look for when booking travel.

Now some of the more corporate trends ➡️
💉 Digital Vaccine Passports at airports, events, and restaurants. While you should laminate that CDC Card, cause it will travel the world with you, the future is digital. As seen in the EU bloc, each nation has developed its own version of the QR-code-generating application, and it's only a matter of time before all other nations follow suit. Fortunately, it’s a lightweight travel item!

🖥 Workcations. Travelers cannot always take 2 weeks off, but they still want to travel far! So peppering some work-days between the vacay-days is becoming very popular. Plus, what's more local than going to work (which is likely the local cafe), coming home (rented apartment), then going out (cooking class).

⛑ Insurance. Definitely not a fun topic! But people are seeking insurance to protect them in case of border closures, cancelations, or illness abroad. Elsewhere’s partner Wanderwell reports a 13% increase in travel insurance in 2021 and sees no slow down.

Two types if travel will emerge for 2022 and these will correlate along age lines.

MEANINGFUL TRAVEL - Ages – 20y/o – 60y/o

People are aware now more then ever that TIME is the most valuable THING they OWN. They will choose to SPEND THAT TIME on what MATTERS most. COVID has allowed people to take time to realise what things matter and what brings happiness.

I predict that will be focused around FAMILY and INTERESTS, things that were taken away form them.

I WANT TO USE MY CREDIT PLEASE – Age 60y/o+

A monster sum of cash is sitting on credit with a variety of travel agents. These funds need to be spent. More than likely this money will go back towards those DO IT BEFORE YOU DIE trips associated with the boomer generation.

Low impact? Unlikely.
Back to normal behaviours? Most likely.

Apart from the COVID "passports", I think 2022 will see a :

- Big boom in travel to reunite with friends and families with a lot of people currently being (effectively) stuck in the location they work at (or need to be at) because never certain they can come back if they leave to see their families and friends.

- Multiplication of inclusive and sustainable travel offers, opening a lot of new possibilities for travelers looking to change their habits - which is great, even if not all stand the test of time (whether because they are small operators that will still be impacted by continuing changes in border policies due to COVID, or because the marketing aspect is stronger than the actual sustainability of the offer, or...).
In that regards, the slow movement towards more inclusivity and accessibility for all might be at a turning point in 2022 as expectations will be higher than ever.

Hi, think we'll see more new micro travel brands offering innovative experiences that have are hyper-local and sustainable.

My personal view, following Ian's "be creative, positive and ambitious" order:

Travel's gain is Netflix's pain.

2022 will see the easing of travel restrictions which will facilitate all of the great travel predictions - Revenge Travel, The Great Resignation, Gettin' the Groove Back, etc.

But, importantly, despite many wanting to, we will not forget all of 2020 and 2021. In particular, we will remember how we have learnt to explore our own city, "our backyard" as Tourism Australia calls it. A newfound appreciation for the city we live in - the varietly of cultural influences, the hidden stories, the history, the hidden (or blatant) nature, fooooooood(!) - will see people continuing to explore "hyper-locally" as Sarah Knapp has mentioned above. But as they'll ALSO be resuming longer distance travel, time will be limited and it will be the +/- 3 hours of sitting in front of the screen per day which will be the victim of this particular squeeze.

(usnews.com "After sleeping, Americans spent most of their time watching television, averaging about 3.1 hours per day – just slightly more time than they spent working")

I'm looking forward to 2022 - the year of "is anyone still watching"

A few trends I'm expecting/hoping for in 2022:
- More purposeful travel: Staying in one destination longer, connecting with nature, getting to know local communities
- Voting with dollars/Shopping with values: Travelers want to support companies, operators, and guides that are giving back to local environments and communities in some way.
- Carbon offsets/removals: We've already seen this slowly start with some airlines, but I predict many more airlines will voluntarily (or be required to by local governments) to add carbon offsetting options in the checkout workflow of flights.
- Travel types & timeline: I predict business travel to remain lower than pre-Covid in the near and medium term; leisure travel and VFR (visiting friends & relatives) will bounce back strongly, but I don't think we'll see pre-Covid levels in 2022 (unfortunately).

The shape of corporate travel will change dramatically in 2022. Trips will be fewer, but stays will be longer, booking windows will increase, even with the recovery of travel to 2019, corporate programs will probably spend less.

Here's why...
(ALL my own views here with this group - this is not Travelport's stance)

Employees have dispersed, some companies have gone remote first, most companies have a higher ratio of remote workers, most companies are doing hybrid working (which doesn't enable true remote, but still impacts office life). Employers have to compete for talent - so the companies that stick to "you have to live in X to work for me" will face a constant uphill battle.

This change in shape and distribution and behaviour of the workforce will have a seismic impact on corporate travel programs.

The sales guy getting on a four-hour flight with two days notice to meet a potential customer in their office for a short face to face meeting - that is not going to happen anymore. This shouldn't have ever happened but I think it will stop completely. Even if the pandemic didn't prove it unnecessary - the customer you are going to meet might be remote, or working from home - all you are doing is pissing them off. (On top of that think of how the CO2 waste looks to potential buyers of your product and service, who now also need to add your CO2 spend to their CO2 budget.)

Wellness and the experience of corporate programs matter more than ever. For the road warriors doing the top 5% of most frequent travel - they just had 2 years off - eating home cooking and sleeping in their own bed. If you try and switch that on again - they will quit. Having gold-level frequent flier perks are no substitute for having a life. The "great resignation" is not about millennials not wanting to work, or a shortage of labour, it's about a benefits shortage and some company's years-long race to the bottom coming back to bite them.

There's been a subtle change in the balance of power between employers and employees, not only in travel sector but all sectors.

So now you have more dispersed and more diverse, teams - you will need to get them together sometimes. There are some workshops you just need the right people in the room. (As much as I love Mural). This has always been there as intra-office travel, and but now the office is dispersed to dozens of locations, not just about connecting two big cities. As a travel manager, you'll push back on travel for one or two hour meetings - especially when they seem ad-hoc and unplanned. But you'll divert that budget for more carefully planned and longer and more meaningful sessions - stuff that has a business case.

Frequent travellers should see frequency go down, and duration of stay go up.

Finally conferences and events. I think the physical networking is the bit that people miss the most, the FOMO I have had sitting at home for World Aviation Festival (on right now in London) or IATA DDRS is something a lot of marketing, strategy, management, product, etc. roles are feeling. There's definitely pent up demand. But if I travel for an event I want it to be big, I want to know _everyone_ will be there, then I'll make the time, plan well in advance, and attend the whole thing - not just one afternoon. While I'm at it - I'll move all those one hour face to face meetings with customers into (or adjacent to) the event also.

Better planning alone - the huge cost savings from booking -14 days instead of -7 days - will save corporate programs money, and enable them to be more flexible about benefits and experience for employees, while keeping overall costs neutral or slightly down. That isn't good news for us as an industry (it's about 60% of our revenue) but we have to look to premium leisure and VFR to fill the gap, or settle with being the travel industry the world needs.

I will never again fly from Dublin to Hawaii for a four-hour meeting. To my shame, that really happened. By 2025 it will sound obscene - not just unreasonable.

So... thanks for coming to my Ted talk! ...That was a bit long, sorry.

TL&DR - New model of working results in a shift in corporate travel patterns to longer booking windows (better planning), longer stays (more meaningful travel) and bigger events (both internal and external), with a slight overall reduction in the size of the corporate travel market. The views of one random guy with no crystal ball.

2022 will mark the rise of the individual trip organizer! Freed by remote work, individuals are leading the arrangements for far-flung friends, communities and colleagues to gather IRL for weeks at a time. Unlike companies and tour professionals, individuals focus on delivering a great group dynamic, choosing to fill spots based on their 1st and 2nd degree connections as opposed to the world at large.

Within a Southeast Asia context, I think the shift to local is inevitable.

A return to the heady days of long-haul short-stay cash-cows from the EU & US could well be years away—if it ever returns at scale. Tour providers, hoteliers etc will need to pivot to stay afloat, and some, perhaps many, will not survive.

On the upside, a pivot to local means less long haul flying, which will be a win for the planet, and also will mean more tourism money staying onshore rather than being siphoned offshore (tho particularly with arranged trips, hotels and to a lesser extent tours, this will remain a problem because of the OTAs and tour companies).

Long haulers who do come will need to stay longer (thanks to quarantine & the uncertainties that come with it) which again will be a win for the planet and, hopefully, a win for local businesses in a more diverse selection of local destinations as people will travel more comprehensively within a single nation. Naturally there will be less inbound travellers as, as pointed out above, don’t expect longer leave entitlements any time soon. Fewer numbers would be a small step towards a more sustainable future.

Destinations would be well advised to offer longer tourism visas to better cater to those who are willing to still travel long haul.

I don’t see regional multi-country recreational travel coming back at any scale until 2023 at the earliest.

Overall, smaller, less environmentally damaging and hopefully smarter, more lucrative tourism (thanks to buoyed domestic travellers and linger long haul stays).

Could be worse.

Let's face it... "predictions for next year" really is short for "things that would benefit my business that I wish will happen next year" :D

Considering also what happened after the last "predictions" post I did on the GigsGuide (gigs.guide ) blog in Dec 2019, I think from now on I will just stick to writing "wish lists" and hope I have been enough of a good boy the last couple of years to finally get what I want.

So here are my wishes for 2022:

1. Live music is back and at full capacity... so GigsGuide can go back helping people plan musical adventures and I finally get to have a few of my own too (I really really really want to use my tickets to see Ben Harper at the Ancient Greek Theather in Taormina in August :))

2. More train travel. Because life is so much nicer when you watch the world go by sitting comfortably by the window of a train than trying to fit your backpack and your legs into a cramped seat on a packed Ryanair plane. Also, can someone please fix international train booking? If you have a nice API we can use to search + book trains on GigsGuide, hit me up!

3. More discoveries off the beaten track. Cultural events and music can be a great excuse to travel to less obvious destinations and discover new places to fall in love with. And while I do long to go back to some of my favourite cities, I am also looking forward to visiting cities I have never heard of and sampling the local beers standing under a stage. BTW, if you or someone you know offers cool music-themed tours, you should definitely get in touch too :)

It's so hard to say right now with this new variant. And after that one, will there be another one? I know people are itching to travel now, as evidenced by huge crowds in the USA for Thanksgiving.

Right now it's almost best to continue to take a wait-and-see attitude. As for trends, a lot of places are adding e-bikes for tours and rentals. They are a great way to quickly – but not TOOO quickly – to see and get to know a city or area.

This type of "healthy" travel will continue to grow; I can see it already with tourism boards promoting it more and more to the media.

Now PubClub.com devotes a lot of time and space to nightlife – which includes concerts and festivals – and they are selling out with a couple of days of announcements. There will be a lot of travel to go to those events around the world.

Finally, I predict it will take some digging to find good deals on airlines and hotels. You may wind up at a place you never before considered and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

It would be much harder and more expensive to visit any place in the world due to the rise in prices of fuels.

Great discussion so far! Here's my predictions 😃

1. Crypto Cities. First, a bit of history. Back in 2014 I demo'd a Bitcoin ATM at a Berlin Travel Massive party which I borrowed from a cafe in Kreuzberg. In a room full of 500 people, only a few people seemed interested in crypto — most were interested in the free Mojitos we were serving! If you were at that Travel Massive meetup, you could have bought Bitcoin for $500. Fast forward 6 years, and crypto is here to stay. Next year we'll see travel startups move to crypto friendly cities such as Miami, Dubai, or even countries such as El Salvador or Thailand to raise capital and set up base. Expect crypto investment to take off too — Bitcoin and Ethereum will be on travel startups' cap tables in 2022. And the "last mile" of crypto will be laid by communities such as Reddit and Twitter, who will empower and educate hundreds of millions of users with easy to use crypto wallets to transact with.

2. Slower travel. The inconveniences of flying will probably get worse in 2022, meaning that people will only fly as a matter of last resort. A 15 hour train ride will be more convenient than a 2 hour plane trip. People will spend more time in destinations and bring their work along. This will fuel the popularity of co-living and co-working.

3. Apple Glasses. After years of secret development, Apple will unveil their version of the "meta-verse" ("apple verse?"): wearable designer glasses that will allow every iPhone user to upgrade to a seamless augmented reality experience. Goodbye business travel. And hello virtual travel — as it was meant to be! People will be queuing up outside Apple stores for weeks to get these. The idea of pulling a phone out of your pocket will be as old fashioned as having a watch fob.

I believe Slow Travel and Conscious Travel will take the center stage in the year 2022.
With more wellness-oriented tour operators emerging, I am glad we will be able to advocate mindful travel rich in experiences, as I see the consumer is ready to absorb.

I believe that, as the tourism sector slowly emerges out of COVID, many travelers will still seek destinations that are closer to home. On the other end, the more adventurous travelers will explore far away destinations. People move away from mass tourism places and will opt for experiences that are more personal, local, and small-scale that also give back to the places they visit. COVID raised further awareness and consciousness among travelers and accelerated the discussion how travel should look like in the future – I think our new video will shed light on this as well

The posts above are spot on, and I have to rack my brain to even think of anything to add.

I'll touch again on the business vs. leisure travel split, which Mark Lenahan delved into above (must read post).

Society is now hooked on Zoom and Microsoft Teams. When you can have a high-functioning meeting online with key decision-makers without so much as a cab ride, or downtown car-parking, let along a five hour flight, this spells the end of business travel for most.

Some will still value to face-to-face interaction, including those who need to be 'on the ground' to get the real experience in terms of business or consultant interaction (think factory visits, property development, environmental fields etc.) but other than that, flights are now the domain of those travelling for leisure.

We'll see low-cost carriers (LCC) struggle, because of the costs of pre-departure tests/inconveniences around getting tested or having proof of vaccination. When the cost of PCR tests for the whole family cost more than the discounted flight and accommodation package you just purchased, is it even worth it? This will be the benefit of course of the legacy carriers if not all the LCCs make it.

Airport lounges - gone are the days of being able to sit back and relax and wait for Priority Pass, DragonPass, American Express to deliver you X number of passengers daily on a silver platter. Nope, because those folk don't travel so much anymore, unless they're on their limited vacation days, in which case also sorry, as many people will be travelling local and not long-haul like they were.

So who is the new audience? You guessed it, leisure travellers - yes some will be higher-end and have these cards/programs, but others will not and will want to 'discover' this new experience for themselves. Lounges will start to be filled with first-time visitors and the younger crowd, not grumpy people in suits off on their fifth flight for the week (they're back home on Zoom).

Finally, my travel prediction for 2022 - local travel continues to trend (as it has at least in my part of the world the past few years). Being able to see a whole new part of your country after a quick 1-2 hour domestic flight is so much more appealing than long-haul. You also make far better use of your vacation days, and it's easier to also ask your boss "hey I want to go hang in X place for a few days, can I work remote? Same time zone."

It's a wacky world, and plenty more in store for change in the years to come.

Hey everyone, a small update for those who contributed answers. This thread was recently translated into Japanese for the Travel Voice Japan news website.

Here's the link: www.travelvoice.jp/20220102-150285

Really interesting thoughts above - thank you ! I see the future of travel being big but with more of a focus on “responsible” travel rather than having 4000 people on a cruise ship we will see smaller groups more “in tune” with the country they are visiting and “giving back” to the local economy - for many years we have seen travellers booking trips where the profit does not go to the country they are visiting - so that the resources being used are not directly linked….transport has become more & more about profit ie quantity over quality - this has had benefits cost wise for the traveller but it is about balance - when people are flying hours for a one hour meeting that could be done over zoom (Not just the comment above but I also had a colleague who flew from Australia to London for a 1 hour meeting) you must ask yourself the question - How much ego is involved that anyone can think that is a good use of time resources & money ?

In hospitality, due to the current staff crisis, I'd say there are things for restaurant, bar and hotel chains to implement if they want to attract, recruit, and retain people in the industry - at a glance:
✔️ Provide flexible working hours
✔️ Improve salary, benefits, and training
✔️ Treat your employees' personal development as an individual plan that is tailored to them
✔️ Give your people the support they need to stick to hospitality for their career, the industry they love
✔️ Objectively look at mental health and wellbeing resources
✔️ Address employee feedback
More insights in the latest Otolo report here: rebrand.ly/Download-our-e-Book

Plan for the best, prepare for the worst. The post covid recovery has no central guidance so it is chaotic. There is no global playbook on a situation no one has experienced before. There is no leadership either. Therefore… Be patient. Be kind. Relax and do your best to enjoy the experience. You will have stories to tell for years to come.