For travel lovers, the world awaits like never before, according to the experts at Virtuoso. The global travel agency network, which annually surveys its members, offers its latest look into 2026 and beyond—and it’s a tantalizing one.
The headline? Luxury travel is thriving, says Misty Belles, Virtuoso’s vice president of global public relations: Overall sales are up 12% and bookings of $50K or more are up 35% from 2024, she says. “Ultra-high-net-worth travelers aren’t just spending, they’re investing in transformative, personalized journeys where exclusivity has become the ultimate measure of luxury,” she says. Despite fluctuations in the stock market and a general pullback in luxury goods, Belles says, the spend for luxury experiences remains strong. “People need the escapism of it, and it’s a priority for them as well. So, if they’re going to spend, that’s how they’re going to spend.”
What’s on the horizon for 2026? More transformative experiences, including at sea, where cruising has never been more in demand or more alluring. Autumn has come into its own as a high season, Boomers with an eye on overtourism are inspiring new offerings in fresh, exciting destinations. From luxury catamarans in French Polynesia to wine tasting in Slovenia, it’s a big, beautiful world. Here’s what to look forward to in luxury travel in 2026.
The Must-Visit Travel Spots of 2026
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in Busan, South Korea CJNattanai – Getty Images
Remember when it was all about Sicily and Japan? That was 2025, and while both destinations are still enviable, Virtuoso experts are looking around the corner to Slovenia and Korea as rich and exciting alternatives in Europe and Asia. Also hot for 2026: Barcelona, which will honor the 200th anniversary of Antoni Gaudí’s death and celebrate the long-awaited completion of his masterpiece, La Sagrada Família (stay near all the action at Almanac Barcelona, just a 20-minute walk away).
In 2026, Napa Valley marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary Judgment of Paris, the blind tasting that put California wines on the global map. Smart travelers are lining up stays at family estate resorts like Meadowood Napa Valley and checking out semi-private jet options to the resort from Aero.
Beth Flowers, travel advisor with Brownell Travel—a Virtuoso member agency in Birmingham, Alabama—sees her clients reaching for destinations that may not be “new” per se, but that offer a fresh serenity or joy in uncertain times: Ireland, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and New Zealand. “What we are seeing is a desire for travelers to be in clean, crisp environments,” she says. “I don’t only mean environmentally clean, sound, and sustainable. I also mean a state of being that is clean and crisp; that is run well and is seamless. And I think that reflects maybe needing peace and serenity.”
Kathryn Burns, an independent associate also with Brownell Travel, spies some exciting new spots among classics for her clients, especially the Cyclades islands in Greece. “Naxos and Paros are seeing a boom,” she says. “New luxury hotels are under development, infrastructure is improving, and these islands are awakening as vibrant destinations.” Expanded flight options to the destination and sleek, high-speed ferries are sweetening the offerings, Burns says.
Another fantastic new option away from the crowds of Italy and Spain, the pristine, lesser-known shores of the Moroccan Riviera are suddenly of the moment. Nestled on 25 lush acres along powder-soft sand, the newly opened Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay—the latest gem in the Royal Mansour Collection (of both Marrakesh and Casablanca fame)—offer a whole new way to experience the destination—and the Med.
Luxury Hotels Are Setting Sail
While the expansion of luxury hotel brands into cruising broke through last year with Riz-Carlton Yachts, more brands are launching their hotel-like experiences on the water, including the first Four Seasons Yachts, the Orient Express Silenseas and Aman at Sea (scheduled for 2027).
“These are truly more like a small luxury hotel experience that just happens to be at sea, rather than the traditional luxury cruise experience,” says Rob Clabbers, founder of Q Cruise + Travel, a Virtuoso member agency in Chicago. But expect hotel-style billings, says Clabbers, noting that Four Seasons Yachts are charging per suite, not per person, and include breakfast. But other meals, beverages, and excursions are charged as consumed, he says, “just like Four Seasons guests are used to during resort vacations.”
For luxury expedition cruise fans, look for even more journeys beyond the poles, Clabbers says. “Those who have visited Antarctica or the Arctic often want to move beyond cold weather destinations, so expedition operators expand to places like Western Australia’s Kimberley region, Raja Ampat, the coasts of Africa, Galapagos, the Amazon, and Seychelles.”
Expedition best-in-class Ponant Explorations Group, already well established at the poles and beyond, has just unveiled a new brand, Ponant Yachting: three ultra-luxe, ultra-intimate catamarans for even more nimble and private exploration (Spirit of Ponant sails the Seychelles, Le Désirade is available for full private charter, and Spirit of Ponant II will join the fleet in late 2026, taking up to 10 guests through the rich world of French Polynesia.)
And for those luxury cruisers who just can’t bring themselves to cross the turbulent Drake Passage for an Antarctic journey? Silversea is taking more control of its “fly the Drake” program by opening its own hotel in Puerto Williams, Chile, its gateway to fly to King George Island across the notorious Drake passage. “This will make Antarctica a more seamless option for those who are time starved,” says Clabbers, “or afraid to get seasick on their way to the seventh continent.”
It’s All About the Transformative Experience
A Masai giraffe roaming the grounds of Amboseli National Park in Kenya. pawel.gaul – Getty Images
Increasingly, luxury travelers seek singular and transformative destinations, according to Belles, and the options just get more intriguing. Consider doubling down on visiting the famed UNESCO world heritage site of Easter Island, where guests at Nayara Hangaroa, the island’s only luxury hotel owned by a local family, can participate in the living heritage of the Rapa Nui, including donning traditional dress and body paint for ancestral ceremonies to celebrating alongside locals during the annual Tapati Rapa Nui festival in February. Or heading to Greece not for beach-hopping but for a holistic renewal at Euphoria Retreat in the heart of the Peloponnese for a revitalizing blend of longevity science and traditional Greek practices.
Rethink tented African safaris (not that there’s anything ever wrong with that) for design-forward lodges in lesser-known areas, such as the stunning, newly opened andBeyond Suyian Lodge in Kenya’s Laikipia-Ewaso, where the ecosystem is home to one of the country’s densest concentrations of wildlife, including Grevy’s zebra, reticulated giraffe, lions, cheetahs, and almost and almost half of Kenya’s black rhino population.
Autumn Outshines Summer
San Giovanni church in the village of Ranui in the Dolomites DieterMeyrl – Getty Images
Shoulder season no more. According to Belles, autumn travel now leads luxury bookings (up 39%), with holiday travel right behind (up 38%). “Travelers are stretching celebrations year-round, proving that high season is wherever (and whenever) they decide to show up,” she says.
“It’s the hidden gem of travel times,” says Kathryn Burns with Brownell Travel. “Some trips, like leaf-peeping in Colorado or New England, have always been attractive that time of year,” she says, “but for empty nesters looking for a value with less crowds, Europe in the fall is perfection. Kids are back in school, family travel slows down, meaning less crowded sights, easier reservations, and lower rates. If you can sneak into places like Positano and Santorini before mid-October when the destinations now close for the season,” she says, “rates are often a third of the high season costs. Time literally slows down. Locals relax and the pace is slower and more natural.”
Flowers agrees. “A savvy traveler knows the best time to travel the world now is actually during autumn,” says Flowers, adding her personal seasonal favorites: Italy’s Dolomites (“no tour busses”) and the grasslands of Kenya, “when you can see all the moms with their young.” Coveted hotels like the Doyle Collection’s properties in London and the Westbury in Dublin report surges in fall travel, as savvy travelers catch on. Closer to home on summer icon Nantucket Island, White Elephant Resorts chart a 15% uptick in booking for both early spring and late fall.
Autumn, Flowers says, “is no longer just the quieter season. It’s the smarter season.”
Avoiding Overtourism Tops the List for Boomer Travelers
The Amazon rainforest in Peru, South America mariusz_prusaczyk – Getty Images
As younger generations step into luxury travel (many getting a taste of it while planning and experiencing peak honeymoons, Belles says), Boomers carry on leading the charge, increasingly citing overtourism as a motivation for where to travel and when. Paired with the rise in solo travel among women, this is a powerful force in the market. “I love that my Boomer ladies are coming on strong and making such an impact, both as solo travelers, but also in their stewardship of the world,” Belles says. “They have a different sense of responsibility to travel, and they are leading the way in looking at these over-touristed destinations and looking for alternatives.”
Kristin Winkaffe of Winkaffe Global Travel, an independent affiliate of Avenue Two Travel, a Virtuoso Agency, sees her clients getting creative and more flexible about destinations. “It’s not necessarily about saying, ‘Oh, don’t go to Rome; it’s overcrowded, or skip Kyoto entirely,’” she says. “It’s more about when and how they go. Maybe for some of these destinations, it’s an option to stay outside of the city or stay in a residential area that’s a lot less crowded, that doesn’t have all the tourists milling around.”
When clients are more flexible, Winkaffe says, “we try to direct them to place that offer the same feeling with a bit more breathing room. If they want Italian coastal, I suggest Puglia, which is much less touristed than the Amalfi Coast. Instead of Santorini, we can send someone to Sifnos to get the same beauty of the Greek islands but much less crowded.”
The same logic applies to classic bucket-list destinations like Machu Pichu, according to Emmanuel Burgio, founder of luxury tour operator Blue Parallel, which specializes in transformative custom journeys designed around the themes of World Heritage destinations and outdoor adventures. “We’ve been seeing a notable increase this year from our travelers, many of whom are Boomers, looking to visit Peru—but surprisingly not so much Machu Picchu,” Burgio says. “Many of our clients have already ticked that box and are now realizing there is so much more worth exploring that can be equally, if not more rewarding, such as Lake Titicaca, the Colca Canyon and the Amazon, just to name a few. If they are doing Machu Picchu, they’re spending fewer days there to allow for more time to experience and support more remote, awe-inspiring places.”
Back to Peru, to Korea anew, to luxury yachts and to the Amalfi and Kenya in the fall. The world, indeed, is calling.
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