Extra vacationers are heading to the mountains: Massive Sky, Montana was named the highest trending journey vacation spot for 2026, in response to a new report from Expedia, Motels.com and Vrbo.
The report ranks 10 world locations on the rise based mostly on elevated flight and lodging searches on Expedia from 24,000 world vacationers over the past yr.
Massive Sky, the Rocky Mountains city an hour’s drive from Yosemite, might looks like it “got here out of nowhere,” however it’s “lengthy been recognized for world-class outside recreation, snowboarding and snowboarding within the winter and mountaineering, mountain biking and rafting in the summertime,” says Melanie Fish, journey knowledgeable for Expedia, Motels.com, and Vrbo. Additionally including to its allure are an evolving eating scene, progress in family-friendly choices, neighborhood occasions and cultural actions, she tells CNBC Make It.
Listed below are the highest 10 hotspots for vacationers within the coming yr and the way a lot search curiosity has risen from 2024:
- Massive Sky, Montana, USA: 92% improve
- Okinawa, Japan: 71% improve
- Sardinia, Italy: 63% improve
- Phu Quoc, Vietnam: 53% improve
- Savoie, France: 51% improve
- Fort Walton Seaside, Florida, USA: 45% improve
- Ucluelet, Canada: 44% improve
- Cotswolds, U.Okay.: 39% improve
- San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: 30% improve
- Hobart, Australia: 25% improve
Okinawa, a series of islands with a subtropical local weather in southern Japan, is the No. 2 trending vacation spot for 2026, per Expedia searches.
Journey to Japan surged lately due to a weak yen and lifted Covid restrictions, however some cities like Kyoto have launched so-called vacationer taxes to curb overcrowding. In the meantime, Expedia acknowledged Okinawa for assembly its “Sensible Journey Well being Examine” framework, aligned with World Journey and Tourism Council rules, for the area’s efforts to supply cultural and pure experiences with out the overcrowding seen in lots of main world cities.
“Expedia does not really feel prefer it ought to or could possibly be the arbiter of the place vacationers ought to go to or ought to wish to go to, however we do play a job in informing vacationers of what is taking place within the locations that they are planning to journey to,” Fish says about recognizing locations that help sustainable journey practices.
Kabira Bay, Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan. The bay varieties a part of the Iriomote-Ishigaki Nationwide Park.
Sean Pavone | Istock | Getty Pictures
“What we see in Okinawa is that they’re taking proactive environmental measures like coral reef restoration, they’re shifting in the direction of a decarbonized financial system by utilizing renewable vitality sources,” Fish says. “They’re celebrating native heritage and ensuring guests have academic alternatives.”
Rounding out the highest three is Sardinia, one other rising vacation spot past hotspots like Rome, Florence or Venice. The island is the Mediterranean’s second-largest after Sicily and is typically known as “the Maldives of Europe” due to its seashores.
Components of the area are thought of a “Blue Zone,” an space of the world the place folks are inclined to reside exceptionally lengthy lives, due to wholesome life-style habits, entry to recent meals, and focuses on robust social ties and spirituality.
“Sardinia goes to take a little bit bit extra effort to get to than the locations that we’re so aware of, like Rome and Florence,” Fish says, however vacationers are discovering it worthwhile to benefit from the island’s seashores, meals and numerous landscapes.
“There are lovely coastlines, however then there is a mountainous inside, after which these charming cities,” she says. “That is actually the trifecta of what vacationers are in search of.”
Photograph taken in Bosa, Oristano, Sardinia, Italy.
Ellen Van Bodegom | Second | Getty Pictures
