D/R DOWNLOAD 8.21

What’s Trending

01/ On Google

• “Solo adventure travel” rose +160% as more travelers look for experiences that combine independence with adventure.

02/ With Media

• This week, the media were interested in luxury cruise trends for 2027, travel contests and giveaways, the best kids’ clubs, luxe pickleball resorts, magical Christmas markets, anniversary travel, historic hotels with fascinating former lives, the best steakhouses, farmers markets and night markets in the U.S., fall festivals and more.

03/ In the Zeitgeist

• Disney is leaning into nostalgia with its latest theme park announcements, bringing back fan-favorite entertainment like the Magic Happens parade, World of Color and classic fireworks at Disneyland. The reveals came during D23, where Disney also announced new attractions, including Villains Land at Magic Kingdom, Indiana Jones and Encanto rides at Animal Kingdom, and Disneyland’s first-ever Coco attraction.

• The 2026 MTV VMAs nominations are officially out, with Madonna leading with 11 nominations and Taylor Swift following with nine. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter also scored big, setting up a star-studded night when the VMAs take over September 7.

Industry Insights

• New research from travel eSIM provider Holafly has ranked the best “workcation” destinations around the world, where travelers combine working remotely with a vacation. The ranking looked at factors including Wi-Fi speeds, hotel prices, access to WeWork coworking spaces and average summer temperatures, with Paris taking the top spot followed by Bangkok, London, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

• Stargazing is becoming the latest wellness travel trend, studies show losing yourself in the night sky can help calm the nervous system and increase happiness. Hotels and resorts are leaning into the trend by incorporating stargazing into their wellness offerings, from moonlight meditation, star bathing and solar hikes.

• New reports on fall travel trends are pointing to a season of road trips, weekend getaways and more experience-driven travel. New data from Hertz shows 46% of U.S. adults plan to travel this fall, with road trips outpacing air travel and 60% planning a weekend getaway, while Airbnb is seeing interest in trends like Gen Z’s “lore-tripping” to quirky small towns and “groundhopping,” where travelers visit bucket-list stadiums and arenas.

• Palm Beach International Airport is now named President Donald J. Trump International Airport, complete with a golden, presidential-style eagle emblem and a new airport code: DJT. The switch from PBI to DJT on August 18 affects the systems underpinning air travel, including bookings, baggage, ticketing and flight information.

• Travelers are increasingly seeking smaller-scale, local experiences rather than crowded attractions and major tourist hotspots, a trend dubbed “tiny tourism.” The trend focuses on intimate, local experiences, such as thrift shopping, riding public transit and grocery shopping.

• New Adobe data shows AI is quickly becoming a go-to travel-planning tool, with AI-driven traffic to travel sites up 119% year over year. A survey of 5,000 U.S. consumers found that 84% said AI improved their travel-planning experience, with the technology increasingly influencing bookings and purchases.

• Marriott’s International Luxury Collection has launched a new line of trips called The Luxury Collection Expeditions, featuring a mix of multiday itineraries, single-day experiences and specialist-led programming. Offerings range from helicopter-hopping through Greek islands to exploring South Caicos with marine conservationists. 

• Google and the National Park Service are launching a new digital hub that lets travelers explore America’s national parks virtually, with more than 150 curated stories, 30 virtual tours and 350 panoramic images from more than 60 parks. The platform launches alongside the NPS’s 110th birthday and National Park Week.

• Following last week’s eclipse in Europe, Egypt’s ancient capital of Thebes is gearing up to host the longest total solar eclipse of the century on August 2, 2027, with more than six minutes of totality near Luxor. The eclipse is already drawing attention as a major celestial event for travelers, with Egypt offering some of the clearest skies along the path.

The Bad

• Google’s$10 million purchase of Spirit Airlines’ internal data, which Google plans to use to train AI models, is facing backlash from the airline’s former flight attendants over employee privacy concerns. The data includes millions of emails and other company records, though Google says it will be de-identified before use.