#Trending This Week - Chasing A Feeling, Timeshares, Experiences, Wellness Retreats, Overplanning, And Short Notice Bookings
Issue 298 • August 4, 2026
People will be traveling this fall for a very specific reason according to trendspotters at Elle Magazine. We’ve also got details about timeshares, wellness retreats, short notice bookings, the rise of the experiences sector of the travel industry, and the desire for people to overplan their vacations as much as they overbook their lives. Check it all out in our three-minute read below.
Fall Travel Is About Chasing A Feeling
Just like fashion, travel has its own trends and obsessions — where people are going, what they’re doing there, and, most importantly, which social media shots will inspire the most envy. This year, the mood is less about checking destinations off a list than about chasing a particular feeling. It’s all about ditching the heat waves for cooler weather, experiencing new frontiers of wellness, and embarking on journeys that feel deep, not performative. Read more in Elle here.
Millennials And Gen Z Are Into Timeshares
There’s a new demographic investing in timeshares: Millennials and Gen Z. A report found Millennials comprise half of all time-share owners and Gen Z leading new ownership. Gen Z makes up 54% of recent timeshare purchases. In fact some Gen Zers aren’t buying homes, they are buying timeshares instead and are part of a growing number of young Americans finding value in the financial investment of a timeshare because it’s appealing to younger generations who prioritize travel in their budgets and game the system to work for their dream trips. Read more in USA Today here.
Experiences Sector To Reach $342 Billion By 2029
The travel experiences sector is growing faster than the travel industry itself. Fewer than half of US and European travelers booked their most recent experience online. Nearly one in five respondents under 55, and almost a quarter of those 55 and over, purchased tickets by simply walking up to a provider or ticket office. A growing number of travelers are booking experiences in advance because they were concerned spots might sell out. Read more at TravelAge West here.
Wellness Retreats Continue To Grow
Wellness retreats are attracting travelers seeking rest, mental health improvement, and lifestyle changes as the booming wellness tourism market grows toward a $1.4 trillion industry by 2029. Personal reasons for wellness travel vary as widely as the travelers themselves. Some say some guests come for stress relief and help finding balance. Others are working on their physical well-being or longevity. Still others are processing life changes like diagnoses, loss or milestones, including retirement. Read more in USA Today here.
Travelers Can’t Stop Overplanning Vacations
Vacations are supposed to be a time to relax and unplug from the demands and frenzied pace of everyday life. Yet for some people, getaways have increasingly become yet another opportunity to make every minute count, even when doing so means returning home more tired than before they left. A new survey reveals that time off is increasingly being judged by how efficiently it is used, rather than how restorative it ultimately feels. Survey findings show that pressure, guilt, and overplanning are following travelers even when they leave the workplace behind for some R&R. Many travelers now reproduce their daily life with tightly managed schedules, carefully sequenced activities, and an expectation that every day should deliver a measurable return. Read more in Travel Pulse here.
Close-In Bookings Continue To Prevail
It’s been an up-and-down year for travel agency bookings so far, with impacts from the war in Iran and a seasonal summer slowdown, but one trend that started in 2025 has remained the same: the prevalence of close-in bookings. Travel advisors have reported that while many clients are still planning trips into next year and 2028 (cruise bookings continue to be far in advance), the number requesting close-in travel — sometimes with less than a month before departure — has increased this year. Read more in Travel Weekly here.