Expedia's 2026 Travel Trends: 5 Destinations Where Demand Is Exploding

Every year, Expedia Group publishes its "Unpack" travel trends report, pulling from billions of real searches and bookings across Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo to spot where travelers are actually heading next — not where marketing campaigns say they should go. The 2026 edition flagged a handful of destinations with search demand climbing 50% or more year-over-year, months before most travel media caught on. We cross-checked those numbers against flight capacity, hotel supply, and on-the-ground reporting to figure out which ones are worth booking now, and which are already getting crowded.

If you've ever booked a "hot" destination two years too late and paid triple for a hotel room next to a construction site, this is the list for you. Below are five places where demand is rising faster than prices — for now — plus a practical plan for locking in a trip before everyone else notices.

What Expedia's "Unpack '26" Report Actually Measures

Before trusting any "trending destination" list, it's worth knowing where the numbers come from. Expedia's report is built on aggregated search and booking data across its own platforms (Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo), compared year-over-year for the same period. That means the percentages describe a genuine shift in traveler intent — people actively searching flights and hotels for a place — rather than a magazine's editorial pick or a tourism board's press release.

That distinction matters. Search-demand growth tends to lead price increases by 6 to 18 months, because airlines and hotels are slower to add capacity than travelers are to start searching. In practice, that means destinations showing a sharp year-over-year jump in searches today are usually still affordable today, but won't stay that way once flight routes and hotel inventory catch up to demand. That lag is the window this guide is built around.

Okinawa, Japan

Search interest in Okinawa has climbed sharply as travelers look past Tokyo and Kyoto for a different side of Japan: subtropical islands, coral reefs, and a distinct Ryukyuan culture with its own cuisine, music, and history separate from mainland Japan. Naha, the capital, is a manageable, walkable base with direct flights from several Asian hubs and connections from Tokyo in under three hours.

Beyond the beaches around Onna and the Kerama Islands, Okinawa's appeal is that it still feels underbooked relative to its natural beauty — reef snorkeling and diving here rivals parts of Southeast Asia, without the same tourist density. Shurijo Castle, rebuilt after a 2019 fire, and the older fortress ruins scattered across the main island add a historical layer most beach-focused itineraries skip. Late spring (April–May) and autumn (October–November) avoid both the summer humidity and typhoon season, which peaks roughly August through September.

Sardinia, Italy

Sardinia has always had a devoted following among Italians and wealthy Europeans, particularly around the Costa Smeralda, but it's historically been overshadowed internationally by Sicily and the mainland Amalfi Coast. That's shifting: search demand is rising as travelers seeking Mediterranean scenery without Amalfi's crowds and price tags discover the island's turquoise coves, granite cliffs, and a food culture built around pecorino, bottarga, and slow-roasted porceddu.

Cagliari, the island's largest city, has direct flights from multiple European capitals and makes a practical base for exploring the south, while Olbia serves the more upscale northeast. Because Sardinia is still primarily a summer-crowds destination for Italians and Germans, shoulder-season travel (May, June, or September) gets you the same clear water with far fewer people and noticeably lower accommodation prices than August, when the island's own tourism peaks.

Savoie, France

Savoie, the French Alps region anchored by Chambéry and Annecy and home to resort towns like Courchevel and Val d'Isère, is seeing rising search demand from a mix of summer hikers and early winter-season planners. It's a useful reminder that "trending" doesn't only mean beaches — Savoie's lakes, via ferrata routes, and alpine villages draw a strong summer crowd, while the same towns anchor some of Europe's most established ski terrain once snow arrives.

Annecy in particular, often nicknamed the "Venice of the Alps" for its canals and turquoise lake, has become a magnet for travelers who want mountain scenery without committing to a full ski trip. If skiing is the eventual goal, the early-booking window for the 2026/2027 season is open now, and locking in accommodation 6 to 12 months ahead typically means better availability and lower rates than waiting until the snow report headlines hit in December. Travelers planning a winter trip to this region should treat late summer as the actual booking season, not an afterthought.

Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam

Phu Quoc, Vietnam's largest island, sits in the Gulf of Thailand and has quietly built out international-standard resort infrastructure over the past several years, including a cable car system connecting to the smaller An Thoi islands. Search demand has climbed as Vietnam's broader tourism recovery brings renewed attention to a destination once considered a niche, hard-to-reach alternative to Phuket or Bali.

The appeal is a familiar Southeast Asia value proposition — white sand beaches, fresh seafood, and beach resorts at a fraction of Maldives or Bali pricing — combined with an island still building out its identity rather than one that's already saturated. Long Beach (Bai Truong) on the west coast is the main resort strip, while Sao Beach and the northern national park areas remain quieter. The dry season, roughly November through April, is the reliable window; the rest of the year brings the same monsoon pattern as the rest of southern Vietnam.

How to Book These Destinations Before Prices Catch Up

Rising search demand is an early signal, not a guarantee of a bargain forever, so the practical move is to act inside that 6-to-18-month window rather than waiting. A few concrete steps make a real difference:

Watch for new direct routes. New flight capacity is one of the clearest leading indicators that a destination is about to get easier — and pricier — to reach. We track newly launched routes regularly; see our roundup of the best new direct flights worth booking in 2026 for routes that may shorten the trip to some of these destinations.

Book accommodation before flights, not after. In destinations with limited hotel supply — Okinawa's outer islands and Phu Quoc's boutique resorts both qualify — rooms tend to sell out before flight prices move. Lock in lodging as soon as your dates are firm.

Pack light and know the rules. Rising demand also means airlines tightening enforcement on carry-on sizing and liquids, especially on the regional carriers serving islands like Okinawa and Phu Quoc. Our 2026 carry-on rules guide covers what's changed this year so you're not caught out at the gate.

Consider traveling solo or off-peak. Several of these destinations, particularly Sardinia and Savoie, are far cheaper and quieter outside their domestic peak season. If you're weighing a solo trip to unwind before the crowds catch on, our guide to solo travel in 2026 has practical safety and planning advice that applies well beyond the destinations it names directly.

Compare against destinations that already peaked. Big Sky, Montana, topped Expedia's search-growth list even more dramatically this year and has already seen prices climb accordingly — read our Big Sky travel guide to see what a destination looks like a year after this same kind of demand spike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Okinawa expensive to visit compared to mainland Japan?

Generally, no — flights within Japan and regional Asian carriers keep Okinawa competitively priced, and accommodation outside peak Japanese holiday weeks (Golden Week in early May, Obon in mid-August) is often cheaper than Tokyo or Kyoto.

What's the best time of year to visit Sardinia to avoid crowds?

May, June, and September offer warm weather and swimmable water while avoiding the July–August peak, when Italian and German domestic tourism pushes prices and crowds to their highest point of the year.

Do I need to book Savoie ski accommodation this far in advance?

For popular resort towns and peak weeks (Christmas, New Year, February half-term), yes — 6 to 12 months ahead is standard advice from tour operators, and it typically secures both better availability and lower rates than booking closer to the season.

Is Phu Quoc safe and easy to get to for international travelers?

Phu Quoc has an international airport with growing connectivity from regional Asian hubs, and its resort areas are well set up for international visitors, though travelers connecting through mainland Vietnam should budget extra time for domestic transfers.

How reliable are travel-demand reports like Expedia's for predicting future prices?

They're a useful leading indicator rather than a guarantee — search demand reliably precedes price increases because airline and hotel capacity adjusts more slowly than traveler interest, but local factors (new flight routes, hotel openings, currency shifts) still affect the exact timing and size of any price change.

The Takeaway

None of these five destinations are secret — Expedia's data comes from millions of real travelers already searching for them. What the data gives you is a head start: a rough sense of which places are about to get more expensive and more crowded, and roughly how much runway is left before that happens. Okinawa, Sardinia, Savoie, and Phu Quoc all still offer real value relative to their more famous regional neighbors, but that gap tends to close within a year or two of a demand spike like this one.

Ready to plan around one of these trends? Browse more destination guides and up-to-date travel intel on goaway.pt, and check our latest posts on new flight routes and packing rules before you book.