"Domestic travel U-turn," "hotel hopping," and "reverse-thinking healing" have emerged as the key trends for this summer's vacation season. Travelers feeling the pinch of soaring prices are increasingly pursuing value-oriented leisure.
Hotels.com, part of Expedia Group, released a report titled "Unpack 26 Summer Edition" containing these findings on Tuesday.
"Rising travel costs are influencing decision-making, and Korean travelers are carefully planning domestic destinations and value-driven journeys," said Lavinia Rajaram, Head of Communications for Asia at Expedia Group. "Travel this summer is not slowing down in demand but diversifying in new ways."
According to the report, 56% of Korean travelers said their interest in domestic destinations has grown this summer compared to last summer. By region, search volume for Busan rose 20% year-on-year, while Seoul and Gangwon also climbed 5% each.
Building on this demand, a "hotel hopping" pattern of moving between two or more accommodations within a single trip is spreading. A representative format combines large cultural and sports events with lodging. Examples include staying at Lotte Hotel Busan to attend a BTS concert in June before moving to Paradise Hotel Busan, or staying at Signiel Seoul to watch a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) game before moving to The Westin Josun Seoul to continue the vacation. "Bleisure"-style hotel hopping, which adds leisure to business trip itineraries, has been mentioned more than 165,000 times on social media.
In the global travel market, "reverse-thinking healing" destinations that avoid large crowds and high prices are reaping benefits. As crowds flocked to host cities of major North American sporting events and prices surged, demand has dispersed to alternative destinations targeting the gap.
These alternative destinations saw average daily rates (ADR) for hotel rooms drop by about 25% year-on-year this summer, while traveler interest jumped more than 35% on average. Rates fell 35% in Fukuoka, Japan, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, while Nara in Japan (30%), Thasos in Greece (30%), and Krabi in Thailand (20%) were cited as value-for-money alternative destinations.
"Screen tourism," which seeks out the settings of hit over-the-top (OTT) productions, also remained strong. News that the new season of Netflix's "Emily in Paris" expands its setting to Rome drove a 35% increase in search volume for Rome over the past two months.
