More women are travelling solo and more multi-generational trips. More Canadians are staying home. And no slowdown in sight for luxury travel.
The Virtuoso Luxe Report Canada was revealed at a Virtuoso media event in Toronto on 22OCT. The briefing, which Open Jaw attended, provided an in-depth look at the booming luxury travel market and a bevy of travel trends. It also provided a few surprising facts about how Canadians make choices that differ from those of other travellers.
The Luxe Report was issued as part of Virtuoso’s On Tour event, which saw dozens of advisors on hand to meet with destination, hotel, cruise line and other travel reps.
Virtuoso officials said Canadian advisors are entering 2027 with their most confident outlook in three years.
The Luxe Report said the high-end travel market in Canada is expected to remain strong. Seventy-three per cent of Canadian advisors surveyed said they expect demand to increase significantly (23%) or slightly (50%) in 2027.
Twenty-one per cent said they expect things to stay the same, and only five per cent expect a drop.
That confidence carries through on spending, with 61% of advisors predicting an increase in spend per trip next year and another 17% expecting a significant jump. Only 18% see spending staying the same, and a tiny 4% expect spending to fall.
Top destinations
Globally, the top five destinations cited by Virtuoso advisors for 2027 are Japan, Italy, France, Greece and Spain.
Virtuoso’s Misty Belles, Vice President, Global Public Relations, said this marks the first time Italy hasn’t topped the company’s top destinations chart.
“But don’t be sad for Italy,” she quipped. “They’re going to pull through.”
For Canadians in 2027, the top five destinations are, in order, Italy, Japan, Greece, Portugal and France. Rounding out the top ten are Mexico, Croatia, Spain, the Dominican Republic and Ireland.
For US travellers, the top five are Italy, Japan, France, Greece and the UK.
Portugal was fourth for Canadians but didn’t make the top five for Americans. France was fifth for Canadians but third for Americans.
Two advisors on the Luxe Report panel noted Canadian trips to the US are down, as Open Jaw has reported extensively.
Anna Judek of Zebrano Travel said a majority of her clients are avoiding the US and that some don’t even want to stop over on their way to another destination. But Ilana Valo of TWIL Travel said it varies widely from one client to another.
“Some feel very strong against supporting the US and spending their dollars there, but we have clients for which it’s business as usual.”
Top Trends: Solo Women Travel, Multi-Gen and More Cruising
The major trend for the upcoming year is multi-generational travel.
Some call it “SKI, Spending Kids’ Inheritance,” said Virtuoso Canada General Manager Karen Hardie, who moderated a panel discussion on the Luxe Report.
“Sometimes the kids want the grandparents to pay,” Lavo said with a smile. “It happens more than you think.”
The report said 68% of Virtuoso solo travellers are women, a group the company calls “Wonder Women.” Of those, 62% are Baby Boomers, 26% are Gen X, and 10% are Millennials.
Many women travellers are hitting the road to seek peace and quiet, but others want to join in on activities, said Ashwin Mathur, General Manager at the Shangri-La hotel in Toronto, who hosted the event and took part in Virtuoso’s panel discussion.
Expedition cruising and ocean cruising are also major trends in the Luxe Report. The top five cruise itineraries are Alaska, the Danube River, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Greek Isles.
Other Trends
The Luxe Report identified five trends shaping how Canadians will explore the world in 2027:
- Air Supply: Personal passions and social media buzz may put a destination on travellers’ radar, but access determines whether they take the next step.
- Fancy-flation: Today’s high-end traveller is shopping the exchange rate and maximizing their purchasing power. Advisors report clients arriving with a budget and asking where it will go the furthest, favouring places that deliver luxury at a friendlier price.
- Multi, May I?: Virtuoso recently dubbed the rise of longer, multicity trips as “city-maxxing.” Now, travellers are taking a more considered approach to how each stop fits together. Itineraries are built around contrast, pairing the intensity of a safari with the ease of the beach, the energy of a city with the quiet of the countryside or deep cultural immersion with time to unwind.
- Extreme Relatives: Multigenerational travel rose to the No. 1 trend spot, while expedition cruising sailed from No. 9 to No. 2. Advisors see the two beginning to converge in what Virtuoso calls “Gen-XYZ-peditions,” a far-flung adventure shared across several generations.
- Solitary Refinement: Going solo once meant paying extra for the privilege of joining someone else’s trip. Today, independent guests are travelling with greater intention, designing itineraries around what they hope to achieve rather than where they want to visit
Luxe Report Tidbits
One fascinating slide showed that the ADR of their preferred hotels has risen from around $1,000 (all figures USD) in June 2019 to nearly $2,000 in June of this year. Another slide showed the average ADR for outbound Canadian travellers in 2025 was $1,336. This year, that figure is $1,682, which represents an increase of 25.9%.
The top rising destinations for Canadian Virtuoso advisors are Iceland, Antarctica, Costa Rica, Norway, Vietnam, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Kenya and the Galapagos Islands.
Top cities for Canadian travellers in 2027 are Barcelona, Rome, Lisbon, Tokyo and Budapest. Belles said Canada was the only country to list Budapest as a top city destination for next year.
The top five family travel destinations for Canadians in 2027 are Costa Rica and Mexico (tied for first), Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Portugal.
Belles said Virtuoso’s global sales this year have soared 20.8% compared to last year. In Canada, sales are up 13.4%, while in the US they’re up 21.3%.
Eight out of ten (79%) of luxury travellers say they’re interested in using an advisor to save money, troubleshoot, advocate on their behalf, and provide other services.
Judek said her clients are more optimistic and booking further in advance than a year ago.
Virtuoso does $35 billion in annual sales, and has more than 20,000 advisors in 58 countries around the world, along with 2,800 preferred partners. In Canada, there are 27 member agencies and 1,300 advisors.
