No more compromises! Travelers finally want to go full steam ahead on their vacation. And a lot of variety awaits you in the coming year. 2023 is all about Set-Jet, Culture Capitals and unusual accommodations.
After the world stalled due to the Corona pandemic, travel bureaucracy and home leave became the new normal. People often stayed at home and dreamed of other worlds thanks to the expanded streaming offering. We explored Middle-earth with Galadriel and Elrond and fell in love with Emily in Paris. Globetrotters can now finally put the cinematic inspiration into practice: The locations of films and series are attractive destinations, as the new travel trend report from Expedia and FeWo-direkt shows. For this purpose, 24,000 adults in 17 countries were surveyed.
According to this, two thirds of travelers worldwide have already considered visiting a destination that they have seen in a streaming series or film – 39 percent have actually booked such a trip. At the top of the bucket list is New Zealand, the setting for the J.R.R. Tolkien invented Middle-earth saga. Whether one meets hobbit Frodo, dwarf Thorin, Elbin Galadriel or even the magician Gandalf there remains questionable. One thing is certain: everyone who travels “there and back” has a lot to tell.
Anyone who has followed the story of “Emily in Paris” may feel tempted to visit the city of love for themselves. The Café de Flore, for example, where Emily (Lily Collins, 33) meets Thomas one evening, is a famous place. Writer Ernest Hemingway and fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent enjoyed coffee and croissants here. The French capital with its sweet temptations leads us straight to the next travel trend of 2023.
Now that the hustle and bustle of markets, cafés and restaurants has finally flourished again, holidaymakers want to enjoy this atmosphere to the fullest. According to Expedia data, the cultural capitals of Tokyo, Lisbon and Edinburgh are particularly in demand. Anyone who thinks of Scotland only in terms of rain, fog and whiskey is wrong.
The “City of the Seven Hills”, “The Windy City” or “Athens of the North” awaits with the world’s largest art and media festival. But a detour to Edinburgh Castle on a small castle hill, the Castle Rock, should also be included. If you are allowed to go further afield, New York, Sydney, Montreal or Bangkok, which also made it into the top ten of the ranking, are recommended.
When it comes to accommodation, the year 2023 will be all about “Haycation”. The neologism is made up of the English “Hay” (German: Heu) and “Vacation” (German: Ferien). In northern Germany in particular, farmhouses, courtyards, barns and stables were converted, which in many places are available as holiday homes. Relaxing in the countryside is increasingly popular, as evidenced by the rise in demand for vacation rentals in Lower Saxony on Vrbo (up 150 percent in the past 12 months).
All the better if this accommodation has a well-equipped kitchen – after all, many people want to cook together. Amenities are one of the most important selection criteria for more than half of travelers wanting to vacation with family and friends. According to the evaluation, 38 percent cook themselves to reduce costs. Half of those surveyed would like to have an outdoor kitchen with a barbecue on site, 25 percent appreciate a pizza oven and a garden with fruit and vegetables (24 percent).
So if you want to plan your next summer holiday in autumnal Germany, you shouldn’t set any limits. True to the motto: “Normal was yesterday!”
