Articles tagged “skift research”

As of April 2026, the index stands at 99. The East is gaining. The West is losing ground.

The traditional destination growth model, built on attracting first-time visitors might become unsustainable with rising acquisition costs, shifting traveler behavior, and growing competition. Destinations must work on strategies to be chosen again.

As of March 2026, the global travel industry is no longer moving in a predictable direction. Global travel demand across regions is diverging, dictated by the realities of geopolitics.

Global travel demand remains resilient, but the strongest growth opportunities are concentrated in emerging markets, where higher travel intent and rising spending power are driving faster momentum than in mature regions.

The travel industry's growth hit a plateau in February 2026 as the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East paralyzed global air corridors, upending the Middle East's record growth. The industry's resilience now depends on its ability to effectively redistribute global travel demand.

India is one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets, one of the largest domestic travel ecosystems, and an underpenetrated inbound destination. The Skift India Travel Scorecard shows clear, comparable data on how India is actually performing relative to its peers.

We take for granted that Gen Z's will be just as avid travelers as their older Millennial peers; that might be a bad assumption. Gen Zs still like to vacation but our new research shows that financial anxieties weigh heavily on these younger travelers.

Travel demand in Latin America remains strong, but affordability — not appetite — increasingly determines how far and how often people travel.

The 2026 travel landscape is increasingly bifurcated. Visa-free policies and growing airline capacity are accelerating growth in the East, while the West must navigate significant policy-driven uncertainty.

Hotel companies spent the last decade building brand portfolios for coverage and scale. The next phase of competition will reward sharper brands that drive pricing power, loyalty relevance, and visibility in AI-compressed discovery funnels.

Consumer love for travel, rising demographics, and exciting innovation square off against unstable geopolitics, affordability challenges, and a lukewarm economic expansion

In 2025, travel matured from a post-pandemic sprint into a disciplined, value-driven market that prioritizes experiences and revenue quality over just driving volumes. As growth shifts Eastward and geopolitics redefine travel corridors, the industry’s success in 2026 will depend on its ability to remain tech-agile and price-resilient in a volatile world.