As the end of 2026 approaches, officials with global hotel company Hilton have turned their attention to 2027, predicting the year will be one where travelers let go of expectations of perfection.
In the company's 2027 trends report — an annual projection of the top themes for travelers developed in concert with Morning Consult by surveying roughly 14,000 consumers — Hilton projects people will be less concerned with getting everything just right and more concerned with finding small trips and chasing their own interests.
Speaking on the latest episode of the "CoStar News Hotels" podcast, Jess Petitt, Hilton's senior vice president of strategy, insights and full service brands, described the year as "the great rebalance."
Travelers are "shifting away from this idea of having the perfect vacation, right, this Instagrammable moment of their lives, and looking instead for the experiences that reflect the reality of their life," he said. "I think that's what makes this really powerful."
According to the company's trends report, 54% of travelers feel some pressure for perfection in their travel and 24% say their planning aims to make others happy.
The full list of 2027's expected trends include:
- "Solo-ish" travel: 31% of solo travelers meet up with friends or family on those trips.
- Travel trust: While more travelers are using artificial intelligence for traveling, trusted sources remain vital, with one in five consulting their mothers and half saying they turn to people with loyalty status for recommendations.
- Growth getaways: Travelers of different generations noted they lean on trips for personal growth with 42% overall saying they discover new interests on the road, although Gen Z is twice as likely to do this compared to Baby Boomers.
- New balance of wellness: 65% of travelers "seek experiences that calm the body and reset the nervous system," while 76% travel to recharge mentally and physically. Nature is key to this equation, with 79% seeing fresh air and the outdoors as vital and 54% using travel as an excuse to spend more time in nature.
- Micro-travel: More trips with shorter stays was a key finding of the report, with 67% saying they plan trips that let them "experience a lot in a short amount of time." What counts as short varies, though, with 88% in the U.S saying it's fewer than three to four days but 86% saying it's less than two days.
Petitt said that guests booking shorter stays has been a particularly notable trend in hotel performance.
"We had a great summer for a variety of reasons, and it's folks taking shorter trips and and doing more," he said.
Predictions for 2026 included seeking more family connection and bringing the comforts of home to themselves on the road.
For more from Hilton’s Jess Petitt, listen to the podcast embedded above.