Travel trends for 2023: the return of long-haul getaways and the decline of last-minute bookings

Hidden ruins in the desert, sunsets facing the Mediterranean or bathing in virgin tropical waters of visitors for the last three years.

The start of this 2023 allows us to dream of the holidays that we would like to enjoy in the future, with a catalog of destinations spread throughout the world eager to recover the number of travelers prior to the pandemic.

The tourist industry has recovered its good health and the main powers have displayed their range of treasures to try to attract visitors in a year that will be marked by the emergence of long-distance trips, which will finally wake up after three years of restrictions.

"The retained demand for medium and long-distance trips is going to explode in 2023, despite the crisis and the rise in prices," predicts Joan Balaguer, CEO of Logitravel.

Those who have been dreaming of the end of the restrictions to make long-haul trips to exotic destinations have begun to move in advance, opting for proposals that are coming back with great force, especially in Asian countries, subject to access limitations for longer .

Japan, which already had a high demand before the pandemic, and Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia, which have been marked by strict restrictions for the last three years, are registering "strong demand", according to Balaguer.

He rules out, however, that it will be the year of the great reopening of China,

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The Caribbean, which last year was a refuge destination for many, will maintain the good levels of demand of recent months, with special significance from the Mexican Riviera Maya, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

According to the data handled by the TravelgateX portal, Mexico will be the fourth most visited country in the world during the first quarter of 2023, a

led by the United States, where classic destinations such as New York are once again among those with the most plans.

“Certain Latin American countries do not push too much depending on what types of travel due to their political conflict.

Everything is quite slowed down, except the Caribbean.

In Peru and Colombia we still don't see much demand”, says Balaguer.

Cenote Ik Kil, in the Mexican Yucatan peninsula.Dado Daniela (GETTY IMAGES)

In the middle distance, the strength of Egypt stands out above all, with the asset of the Great Museum that is scheduled to open in the coming months and which, according to Logitravel, is, together with Jordan, the country in the Mediterranean basin with the greatest demand.

"Between 40% and 50% of the advance sales that we have right now is medium and long distance," Balaguer emphasizes.

The colossus of Pharaoh Ramses II in its current location in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza (Cairo).

MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (AFP / Getty Images) (AFP via Getty Images)

Europe and domestic market

As for the European destinations with the greatest pull this year, from this agency they see the three Baltic capitals "as a safe bet".

Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn are becoming successful proposals that join London, Rome and Berlin (which have been leading the preferences of tourists for years).

“They are always cities that people want to go to.

In summer and autumn, they recovered their attractiveness and visitor levels, and this will continue in 2023 because we already have a lot of sales”, reports Balaguer.

Added to this list are Amsterdam, Lisbon, Venice and Dublin, capitals that have attracted the attention of travelers for their getaways this year, according to the Airbnb accommodation platform.

The Three Brothers house complex, the oldest medieval building in Riga (Latvia).

Domingo Leiva (GETTY IMAGES)

For TravelgateX, in the national market, the Canary Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia will be the regions with the most pull until March, with English, Italian and German as the main source markets.

With the high season on the horizon, from Logitravel they point to a good functioning of traditional coastal regions, such as the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Andalusia and the Valencian Community.

"They will continue to work well, but some, like the Balearic Islands, will lose the Spanish customer if they continue to rise in price," warns Balaguer.

Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona and Cádiz focus the preferences of Spanish travelers for short getaways, according to Airbnb.

According to data from the Rumbo travel portal, Spaniards repeat their preferences for the next summer, with a

three dominated by domestic sun and beach island destinations: Tenerife, Mallorca and Menorca.

Tour operators predict that this year will continue to be marked by last-minute sales, which in 2022 monopolized the market.

“People made reservations from one day to the next or at very short notice.

We think that, little by little, advance sales are returning, not to pre-pandemic levels, but the last hour is going to slow down," predicts Balaguer.

It is ratified by Pedro Cámara, CEO of TravelgateX, who maintains that what has been most affected by the pandemic are the booking patterns.

“The

has been totally imposed by comparing data from the last four years.

Although it is true that each time we return to an advance that is more similar to that of 2019, we are still not in the same numbers”.

Thailand and Jordan: destinations advanced by the WTM in London

The World Travel Market fair in London, held last November, already presented Thailand and Jordan as two of the destinations that would stand out in 2023. The Southeast Asian country was marked by pandemic restrictions until last October, when the Government abolished all entry vetoes for foreigners, who until then had prohibited access to certain areas.

The opening first came to the tourist island of Phuket in July 2021 with very strict conditions, later opening to other areas of the country.

Its main attraction will be the beaches of the smaller islands, which have been able to regenerate due to the absence of tourists in recent years.

The small archipelago of the Phi Phi Islands,

Jordan tries to draw visitors beyond the ruins of the ancient city of Petra, its crown jewel.

A range of national museums and relaxation options with elegant

on the shores of the Dead Sea are added to proposals to visit the ruins of the Roman city of Gerasa, in an excellent state of preservation.

The country also promotes a tour of the sacred places of Christianity, such as Mount Nebo or the Bethany region and, beyond the route through the castles in the desert, it showcases its impressive natural reserves, such as the Mujib, the lowest in the world, or the oasis of Azraq.

A special section dedicated the country in London to the Wadi Rum desert, declared a Unesco world heritage site and with a multitude of options to sleep in Bedouin camps.

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