06/29/2026
Just an FYI- from U.S. Outbound Travel Market Intelligence...
1. Travel isn't just recovered — it's booming. Americans are taking more international trips than ever before.
2. The classics still anchor most trips. Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean aren't going anywhere.
3. Emerging destinations are winning share. Newer destinations are growing fastest, so there's genuine upside for
destinations that can capture this shift in travelers toward something different.
4. Travelers are adding trips, not swapping them. A bucket-list Africa adventure doesn't replace their annual
Europe trip — it's on top of it.
Americans aren't just back to traveling, they're traveling more than ever. In the first five months of 2026 alone, they
took 29.1 million trips internationally, nearly one-quarter higher than in the same period of 2019. Americans took 29.1 million international trips between January and May 2026.
That's up 23% on the same months in 2019, the last "normal" year before COVID.
Look beyond the famous names and a clear pattern emerges —
Americans are getting more adventurous.
Destinations across Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and the
Pacific together pulled in 7.85 million trips in early 2026, up 37% from
2019. As a group, these "off the beaten path" regions now account for
roughly 27% of all U.S. trips abroad — the same share as Europe, the
single most popular region. Put another way: for every American
heading to Europe, another is now choosing somewhere off the
traditional map.
The fastest growth, in order, is coming from Africa, Central America,
and South America — all outpacing the overall market by a wide margin.