A new decade: more travel plans and interesting travel trends according to new studies. Here are the top wish list travel destinations for the 2020s as well as the most important travel trends for this decade according to research.

To make everything even more interesting, I’ll combine these results with other articles surveys and articles focusing on travel trends for 2020 to get a clear picture of what people from all over the world want when it comes to traveling.

These 2020 travel trends are quite interesting, so read along as you may be surprised! You’ll also discover the different travel trends by continent and how the list of dream destinations vary from one country to another.

I have to confess that I was surprised by some of the dream vacation spots chosen by some and that it made me really think about the most amazing vacations I’d like to take in the 2020s.

Let’s dive right in!

Travel trends for the 2020s

Technology will play an even bigger part in the travel industry – and is expected to make traveling simpler.

People want:

• passport-free travel
• single app for travel needs
• mobile app log-ins
• to increase travel, but also to make more eco-friendly choices

According to the Agoda research “With the continued advancement of technology, revolutionary travel apps, and better connectivity, people expect a lot more from their travel experience in the next decade.

Specifically, Southeast Asians half of all respondents in Indonesia (56%), Singapore (54%), Malaysia (53%), Taiwan (50%), the Philippines (48%) and Thailand (48%) considering this the norm in the next decade. This compares to only a third of people in the United Kingdom and the United States (33%).”

People expect travel registration to go smoother in the 2020s. In fact, Singaporeans (54%), Filipinos (53%), Malaysians (58%) and Thais (49%) view mobile check-ins (skipping the registration queue), downloading the rook key access as a norm in this new decade.

In what the passport free travel is concerned, Singapore (50%), Vietnam (47%), Philippines (45%), China (44%) and Australia (41%) are the top five places most likely to have this passport-free travel turn to reality in this decade, while the US and UK citizens are not that optimistic.

The recent IATA research revealed similar trends and showed that people worldwide want to speed up travel processes – you can read here all the conclusions of the IATA survey.

The ever-growing importance of technology and apps in the travel industry is also emphasized by the results of another research conducted by Booking.com – more details about these results are included below.

People want to travel more – but also be eco-friendly

As you will see by looking at the results included below, in the top wish list travel destinations for the 2020s across the globe, many people want to travel.

It would appear that most of them would prefer to explore more their own country – 40% of respondents globally – while 35% of respondents globally would like to travel more internationally.

In terms of age, Agoda discovered that travelers in the 35-44 and 55+ age groups are most likely to want to explore their own countries and territories more.

Some are inclined to travel more solo – Korean and Japanese travelers mostly – while Taiwanese and Indonesians would prefer to take a gap or a sabbatical year.

Off the beaten path destinations

According to a different research by Booking.com, (54%) of global travelers want to play a part in reducing over-tourism in 2020.

That is why Booking.com discovered that one of the interesting trends is the ‘second city’ traveler.

This means that people would prefer to go to a less famous but similar destination if that would mean that they’d be more eco-friendly – 51% of the respondents.

To reduce even more the environmental impact, travelers would choose slow modes of transport, while 61% would take a longer route towards their destination to enjoy more the journey.

Grandparents to take trips with their grandchildren

Another trend discovered by Booking.com is the fact that grandparents are planning to take trips with their grandchildren.

72% of the grandparents interviewed consider that spending time with their grandchildren keeps them feeling young.

Moreover, 71% of the grandparents consider that parents need time alone – without their children – so a vacation grandparents-grandchildren is the perfect solution.

More travel for those who retire

As more and more people plan to retire early, many of the people in their 20s dream to retire at 55 and plan great trips at that point.

Top wish list travel destinations for the 2020s

The research conducted by Agoda shows dream destinations getaways. They are grouped by country or continent and they can actually help anyone create the ultimate travel bucket list with the best places to visit worldwide.

According to the research, Kyoto tops destination wishlist – discover here what to see and do in Kyoto and read these useful tips for your first time in Japan so that you won’t be shocked or taken by surprise!

The next most wish-listed destinations for the 2020s are Bangkok, (Thailand), one of the top 20 megacities in the world and one of the best places to visit in Thailand, and Bali, (Indonesia).

Asia dominates the global travel wishlists destinations for the 20s. Let’s see the details and other dream destination spots across the globe.

The top travel wishlist destinations for Chinese travelers in the 2020s are:

• Kyoto
• Shanghai
• Bangkok

Another interesting fact is that 43% of Chinese travelers want to travel more in their own country in this new decade, while 38% want to travel more internationally.

The top 3 dream destinations for Singaporeans are:

• Zurich (read here the Zurich attractions and discover top unique things to do in Zurich)
• Kyoto
• Osaka (Japan)

53% of Singaporeans would like to travel more internationally in the 2020s.

Australians want to visit:

• London (UK)
• New York (USA) – discover how to spend 3 days in New York City, read the local’s guide to NYC, learn more about Brooklyn and Queens, see where to go near New York, what are the best free things to do in NYC and what to do in 48 hours in NYC
• Bangkok

Top 3 wish list destinations for the UK:

• New York
• Sydney (Australia)- read here the local’s guide to Sydney
• Kyoto

As you can see, the top destination for Australians is London, while Sydney is the second most desired travel destination for UK residents. Quite interesting!

Other facts:

• 40% of Australians would like to travel more internationally in the next coming decade,
•  
• 5% of Australians want to travel more domestically
  21% would like to take more solo trips

Moreover,

• 36% of British travelers want to explore more domestically,
• 24% would like to travel more internationally.

Top wishlist destinations for travelers in the US in the 2020s:

• New York
• London- see what an insider recommends you to do in London, discover amazing hidden gems in London, visit these cool free places to visit in London, and great UNESCO sites in London.
• Sydney

More Americans want to travel more domestically (38%) than internationally (26%).

Japan – top dream destinations for the 2020s

With 62% of Japanese travelers wanting to travel more domestically and 23% that would like to travel more internationally, it is no surprise that the number one destination on the wish list vacation spots for Japanese people is Kyoto. The top 3 amazing travel getaways for Japanese travelers are:

• Kyoto
• New York
• Paris (France) – read these incredibly useful travel tips for Paris, find out what NOT to do in Paris, create your Paris bucket list, and your Paris 1-day itinerary if you will take just a short trip to this beautiful city.

Dream destinations for Malay travelers:

• Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)- here’s a complete guide to Kuala Lumpur by a local
• Makkah (Saudi Arabia)
• Bali (Indonesia)

43% want to travel more internationally, while 40% want to explore more their own country.

Thailand – travel getaways wishlist

The top wish list destinations for Thais are:

• Bangkok
• Kyoto
• Phuket (Thailand)

With two cities from Thailand, it’s no surprise that the research revealed that 36% of Thai travelers would like to travel more domestically, while 30% would like to travel more internationally in the next decade.

Travel wishlist for Filipino travelers

As 45% of travelers from the Philippines would like to travel more domestically and 39% internationally, the top 3 travel destinations for Filipino travelers are:

• Manila (Philippines)
• Seoul (South Korea)
• Kyoto

Indonesia – wishlist holiday destinations

Top 3 destinations:

• Bali (Indonesia)
• Makkah
• Borobudur

39% of Indonesians would like to explore more of their own country and, interestingly, 29% want to take a gap year.

Taiwan – preferred vacation spots

With more Taiwanese want to travel more internationally (48%) than those who want to explore more their own country (37%), the top 3 travel destinations for the 2020s looks like this:

• Taipei (Taiwan)
• Kyoto
• Amsterdam (The Netherlands) – here’s what to do in Amsterdam, the comprehensive guide to Amsterdam’s museums, and these are the UNESCO sites in Amsterdam to see on your trip.

Most wish-listed travel destinations for Vietnamese travelers

The top 3 dream vacations getaways for Vietnamese travelers are:

• Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
• Kyoto
• Bangkok

More Vietnamese travelers would like to explore more of their own country (49%) than those who want to travel internationally in the next decade (41%).

Best dream vacation spots for Koreans

According to the Agoda research, the top 3 wish list destinations for Koreans looks like this:

• New York City
• Barcelona (Spain)
• Brisbane (Australia)

More Koreans want to go abroad (40%) than to travel domestically (42%).

Conclusions

I find these results interesting. I notice that many people want to travel to one (or more) cities from their own countries – and that’s valid even for those countries where more residents want to travel more internationally than to explore their own country.

I also notice that more people tend to choose destinations rather close to their country – there are exceptions, obviously.

Finally, I am sad that the research didn’t cover more European countries (only the UK is featured). I would have loved to see compared results! In fact, there are plenty more countries that were not covered – I am sure this is due to the destinations where Agoda is present and from where they got responses.

In what the technology influence in the travel domains is concerned, it is no surprise to see that all research shows that people want to travel easily and faster and to use various apps (preferably one for everything or for as many details as possible) to make that happening.

As for the travel wishlist, the numerous dream destinations getaways ideas from this wish list travel destinations from people all over the world can make great additions to your own travel bucket list.

Choose one or more of these places to visit as your next holiday destinations!

photo sources: 1, 2, pin 1 – photo 1 – photo 2, pin 2 – London – the rest are from existing articles on site, sourced in that specific article