10 New Travel & Tourism Words That Define 2026 Travel Trends

10 New Travel & Tourism Words That will impact 2026 Travel Trends 1. AI-Vegan Since the day something called Chatgpt entered the daily life of most of the internet users not long ago, everyone has become acutely aware of something called Artificial Intelligence, but if we have to be honest, AI has been part of the way to plan travel, choose travel, perceive travel long before Chatgpt came along. However it’s only now that many are voicing concerns about the extreme use of tools like Chatgpt, and I am pretty sure I have here on the podcast AI enthusiasts as well as AI-Vegan.

What are those? People who have chosen to abstain from using AI-powered tools for ethical, personal or environmental reasons. There is even a Wikipedia page about it! Am I a AI-Vegan?

I can’t say I am. Not because of the use of Chatgpt, but because AI is pretty much the core engine of every single little tool, app, software out there today. So unless you don’t use the internet at all, you can’t say you are AI-Vegan. But for some reasons, it’s a term that is out there these days and I am curious to see to what extend it will polarize people in the coming months.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/aug/06/meet-the-ai-vegans https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/ https://theconversation.

com/ai-veganism-some-peoples-issues-with-ai-parallel-vegans-concerns-about-diet-260277 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_veganism 2. Astro-cruising The poor cruise industry, not so poor after all, is enduring the criticisms on their sustainability credentials, and without a glitch, it goes on.

Because the truth is that people do book cruises, and now, one of the key motivators is the fact that on a cruise you can actually…see the sky and the stars! Cruising seems to be a great way to learn about the skies, in an uncompromised patch of stars, perhaps even in conjunction with special events like the total solar eclipse happening on the 12th of August this year, or the total lunar eclipse on March the 3rd or the Annular solar eclipse on February 17, the so-called Ring of Fire.

More of the night-sky seekers trends in the Trend N.7! https://www.vogue.

com/article/astrological-events-2026-by-star-sign https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/annular-solar-eclipse-february-17-2026/ https://www.timesnownews.com/travel/astro-cruising-explained-the-travel-trend-turning-the-sky-into-the-main-attraction-article-153403872 3.

Dry Tourism Move away Dry January - not drinking alcohol is not just a thing people do after the festive extravaganza to cleanse and detox, Dry, meaning, not drinking alcohol at all. It’s also called “sober travel" and "dry tripping” And this now applies to people traveling as well. How many times have you heard upon arrival in a restaurant or in a luxury hotel: Glass of champagne? But now, the answer might not just be what everyone expects.

With what we can now call a sure decline in binge drinking, Dry Tourism is now coming out as a whole new range of travellers that doesn’t want to be welcomed with a glass of bubbly, or find the mini-bar full of alcohol in the hotel room. They rather have a variety of non-alcoholic beverage at the ready - that, let’s be honest - tend to be quite scarce in terms of variety and appeal in many cases. Sobriety during holidays and, in general, travel is something that doesn’t just call back to personal wellbeing or health choices, but also refers to a more conscious choice of simply being more present - in the moment so to speak - while experiencing something truly special.

Not just that, but personal safety plays a big role in Dry Tourism, with not drinking meaning being more vigilant while abroad, either traveling alone or with others - we still remember the recent cases of alcohol poisoning in Vietnam that led to the tragic events reported early last year. https://www.bbc.co.

uk/news/articles/cde7j9j76x0o https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-where-alcohol-is-illegal https://www.tourismupdate.com/article/dry-tourism-the-inclusive-travel-trend-to-watch#:~:text=21%20Aug%202025%20%2D%20By%20Bianca,obsessed%20with%20longevity%20and%20data https://www.

insighttrendsworld.com/post/travel-sober-sunsets-cultural-journeys-how-gen-z-is-redefining-the-travel-landscape https://creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/gen-z-travelers-are-dry-trippingand-theyre-having-way-more-fun-122649481.

html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABlAZGyE8P5IFswF-i5Fo2RB98I-TFuZ39_rV6YxZuo-fniaU7fZ1E2uRuZHgbq20oYbq9A3HRB_1pNB8DZ3l5UXkwUnM8NZWpNGqAPTPqlrWRt1oFDoYyhytBot3w66AzNY0F3CobdvTWjNiJ_pD6nXw0U4L79YB-D9qp85uUhr 4. Glowmads Imaging a hint of wellness travel, a little bit of a self-pampering retreat and add a dash of social media fomo on beauty products and here you have it: the perfect recipe for a trend that highlights an ever-growing demand for the pursuit of the perfect skin, glowing appearance and a youthful overall result.

Traveling for beauty purposes is not a trend, and if we step away for a moment from the preconception that beauty-seekers are female-only tribes, let’s think about the most common destination for hair transplant like Turkey for example where a full hair transplant can cost as little as 3000USD or for plastic surgery - the capital of cheap nose-jobs Tirana, in Albania, a full rhinoplasty surgery can go as low as 1600USD. All in the name of looking better. As per skincare and the lovely army of glowmads silently flying around the world to get the best skincare treatments, we might find most of them in Seul, Korea - but many others are being drawn to a more ‘elemental’ skin care in the northern European regions of Norway and Sweden.

https://familybeautyal.com/how-much-does-rhinoplasty-cost-in-albania-complete-2025-price-guide/ https://www.skyscanner.net/travel-trends/beauty https://www.

travolution.com/news/glowmads-and-shelf-discovery-among-2026-travel-trends/ 5. Hybrid Travel I am not sure this is new, we spoke in the past about Bleasure trips, Workcation and so on, so the blen of work and travel is already happening, the reason why this could be worth looking into is the exponential increase of nomadic remote workers. Matching a great place to live with a work schedule that allows you to be anywhere, is at the base of this trend, and destinations are jumping on the case with now more than 70 countries around the world offering digital nomad visas.

https://citizenremote.com/blog/digital-nomad-visa-countries/ 6. Low-impact souvenirs AKA edible shelf-ies Move away one-size-fits-all souvenirs often made in China or Bangladesh, the edible souvenirs are on the raise! Low-impact souvenirs are all we have been preaching for in the sustainability corridors of tourism destinations, but what wasn’t clear enough was IF the travellers would actually prefer them to a, let’s say a flag, a coaster with a flag, a mug with a flag or a magnet with a flag - you get my point.

I have just been to Budapest myself and, strolling around the city, where I admit I also bought a magnet -because I do collect them, it’s my thing - I saw that there was a sincere overwhelming majority of mega-stream souvenirs shops as opposed to a very few embroidery and crafts shops where one could by something actually made in Hungary. So again, the truth behind the conversation and the reality it’s not so straightforward. Apparently people are also enjoying going grocery shopping while on holidays, picking through the shelfs of local supermarket to bring home what local people actually buy and cook, here they come the shelf-ie souvenirs!

By all means, it is certainly more circular-economy friendly for destinations, but also shows a shift in travel awareness as moving from shallow window shopping to actually reliving the experiences long after people have returned home. Now I want to see who shows up to my next self-made Gulash dinner! 7. Noctourism Visiting a very famous place and have it all for yourself - let’s say the Taj Mahal - may seems impossible to most of the travellers, but what if this would happen during the night hours instead of at the peak hours of the day?

This is one of the growing trends in travel and tourism and worth of observation for 2026: Nocturnal Tourism or Noctourism. Fully aware of personal safety always, regardless of where travellers might be heading this year, exploring at night does not just mean walking around half-lit back streets of capital cities, but a whole different way of discovering and appreciating places that would be otherwise overcrowded during the day. An example of Noctourism is: Star-gazing which might not be a trend but if we look at the ever-increasing light pollution affecting even the most remote corners of the world and growing 10% annually (National Geographic) - almost like saying we just can’t seem to be able to do a simple thing as to switch off the lights - there are companies like DarkSky International that are devoted to preserving the skies and its natural darkness, so if you are looking for the next best spot to take that night-vision timelapse, you can check on their website for the dark-parks area around the world.

And it doesn’t have to be safari in South Africa, it can also be an overnight on a sandbank in the Maldives or a cruise in the northern seas where some cruise ship companies promise a return trip free of charge if the aurora lights are not seen. Nocturism is not only about stargazing, but it can also refer to travellers making the most of their time abroad - at night - instead of during the day, perhaps visiting monuments, famous districts and even Global Landmarks like the Taj Mahal in India - which does night visits and opens on full moon days each for just 50 lucky guests at night.

https://www.tajmahal.gov.in/night-view.

aspx https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/what-is-noctourism-rise-of-after-dark-activities https://www.hurtigruten.

com/en 8. Pop Culture-Led Tourism We live in the era of Pop-Culture. What could that mean? For starter, the word itself - pop - something pops, done it’s gone, it has popped.

So that symbolizes the short and even shorter presence of something in our lives. How does this relate to travel? Movies, TV-show, Songs, - sometimes books, yes, books - are influencing the choice of a destination because media often idolizes the location where it was filmed. And this is not always good, many set locations are often not ready to welcome that kind of volume of visitors.

If you put together a short-term interest times 3 if the show/movie becomes famous then multiplied by the volume of today’s reach on social media you will have unfortunate results such as the ones of Thailand, in Maya bay, or Croatia in Dubrovnik and many others where over tourism was directly connected to never ending quest for more. https://www.businessinsider.com/famous-movie-and-tv-locations-ruined-by-tourism-2020-2#star-wars-the-force-awakens-helped-spur-an-increase-in-tourism-to-skellig-michael-but-this-isnt-an-entirely-good-thing-8 This is directly connected to the next one: 9.

Romantasy If we look out there - it’s January and the movie awards season is in full swing, there is a tendency for cinematic escapism - meaning people are loving movies and TV-series that takes them to another era, another time. Think Bridgeton-saga, Gilded-Age series and more similar concept that are fueling what’s now called Romantasy - a mix between romance and fantasy. In travel this refers to the search for experience and locations that yes are romantic, but romance alone doesn’t cut anymore, it needs to recall the ‘fantasy’ element of these period-drama that are so popular nowadays.

It brings right in these landscapes you’ve seen in the movies, and Acotour for example, in the UK is doing just that. I get it, there’s a lot of binge-watching going around lately and if you match this to an near-obsessive use of social media that turns genre-aficionados into actual location-stalkers all in the name of a post on social media that says ‘I was there’, suddenly this trend does sound very romantasy to me, it sounds scary. https://pageturnertours.com/your-romantasy-acotour/ https://www.

paxnews.com/news/buzz/romantasy-retreats-glow-cations-10-travel-trends-canadians-2026#:~:text=1.,Traditional%20celebrations%20are%20evolving 10. Skillcation This one is one of my favourites, if not the favourite.

Alas people are now showing signs of actual interest beyond absent-minded travel mania and are favouring going on holidays with the intent of learning something new, a new skill - hello Skillcations! For many, a holiday is still a holiday, without a deeper meaning, a profound sense of life or anything too hard to do and feel. Let it be just a holiday, no strings attached, and nothing wrong with that. However studies show that we come out much more refreshed and energised from a period of rest or a holiday if we have put our mind at learning something new, more than spending time doing nothing.

So skillcations are the perfect blend of a holiday with a purpose, which serves well not just service providers in the travel industry but also fills the personal growth-led perspective on life that seems to be paramount these days. So mastering a skill, learning something new or just spending time doing that one thing you really love, that is what a skillcation is about. Of course, a trend is something we read between the lines, there isn’t a request for a skillcation holiday as such, but if operators observe the true nature of that next booking, they might just be selling a skillcation, without even knowing it.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2025/11/08/skillcations-are-the-work-trend-of-the-future-career-experts-say https://www.axios.

com/local/chicago/2026/01/22/2026-travel-trend-skillcation-curiosity-leave? https://www.cntravellerme.com/story/the-biggest-travel-trends-of-2026 https://www.

forbes.com/sites/emesemaczko/2025/10/15/3-new-travel-trends-making-2026-tourism-more-sustainable/?utm_source=chatgpt.