Food as the destination. Sweat-and-spa escapes. Tech-enhanced experiences. Travellers are rewriting the rulebook on why they travel, opting for meaning over mileage, and experiences over rote itineraries. Trip.com Group and Google explore this shift in Why Travel?, a new global consumer report that examines the intersection of purpose, people and place in travel.
By combining Trip.com Group’s global booking intelligence and proprietary booking data with Google’s research and search insights, the report uncovers how travellers are seeking deeper purpose and richer connections through culture, community, and technology to create more experience-focused journeys in 2026 and beyond.
The Why Travel? report highlights five key themes that are shaping tomorrow’s journeys: Travel as Expression (where identity and aesthetics drive choices), Travel with Purpose (where curiosity and meaning replace cookie-cutter itineraries), Travel to Heal (where wellness and restoration become the agenda), Travel to Connect (where music, sport, and multigenerational moments bring people together), and Travel of Tomorrow (where artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive technologies redefine inspiration and discovery).
Key Insights from the Why Travel? Report
- Travel as Expression: Globally, travellers are increasingly indulging in fork-first travel, with Google searches for “food travel” and “Michelin guide” growing by 18% and 22% respectively, and food-related bookings on Trip.com up by 43% year-on-year (YoY) in the first half of 2025. The report also revealed that Singapore is among the top three destinations for food-related experiences alongside Mainland China and Thailand, as well as one of the top four source markets where foodie travellers hail from.
- Travel with Purpose: Travellers are also increasingly exchanging cookie-cutter itineraries for experiences that cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and exploration. For instance, Google searches for “Japanese tea ceremonies” showed a 53% YoY increase in the first half of 2025, demonstrating the power of unique experiences in meeting travellers’ desire for inspiration and discovery.
- Travel to Heal: Instead of simply going for the occasional massage or yoga class, travellers are now going on wellness trips that prioritise healing, movement and restoration. According to Google Trends, global searches for “spa destination experiences” and “all-inclusive spa” grew by 140% and 250% respectively. In particular, searches for “onsens” in Singapore grew by 80% YoY, showing that Japanese soakcations are rising in popularity among Singaporean travellers.
- Travel to Connect: Travel is increasingly becoming an important means for friends, families and fan communities to connect over shared experiences. Not only are two-thirds of travellers are willing to travel abroad for concerts, endurance sports tourism also saw a fivefold increase with runners, cyclists, and Hyrox competitors crossing borders to compete and connect. In Singapore, Google searches for “hyrox” and “marathon” grew 100% and 143% respectively YoY, with the Mount Fuji Marathon 2025 and Hyrox Hong Kong 2025 emerging as the top endurance sports events that Singaporeans searched in the first half of 2025.
- Travel of Tomorrow: AI-driven travel has evolved from being a novelty to a necessity. In the first half of 2025, Google searches for "help planning my trip" grew by 190% YoY. In additional, virtual and immersive travel experiences are moving into the mainstream, with searches for “tech travel” on Trip.com surveying significantly, and bookings for Las Vegas Sphere (known for its immersive shows) and Tokyo Immersive Fort (known for its interactive installations and multi-sensory experiences) growing by 4014% and 1627% YoY respectively.
“It is exciting to see from the Why Travel? report that travel will be more about forging meaningful, memorable experiences and less about checking destinations off the bucket list in 2026 and beyond. From flying overseas for concerts, sporting events and immersive experiences to exploring cities through their vibrant food and wellness cultures, these shifts are influencing where travellers and headed and how they book their travels. By partnering with Google to uncover these insights, we can work with our partners to evolve our travel offerings so that the industry can better anticipate and meet the needs of consumer travellers now and into the future,” said Edmund Ong, General Manager, Trip.com Singapore.
“We’re seeing a clear shift in how and why people explore the world, seeking deeper purpose, richer connections and experiences enhanced by technology. Google’s AI tools like Gemini, AI Mode on Search and Google Translate are emerging as travel collaborators to help people plan and make decisions. AI is an essential tool also for the industry, enabling partners like Trip.com Group to capture the immense opportunities that lie ahead in 2026 and beyond,” said Joyce Zhang, Managing Director, Greater China LCS Specialists team, Google.
With community becoming a core booking motivator and AI-first travel increasing, Trip.com Group is doubling down on comprehensive concert travel packages and continues to expand AI-driven planning tools such as Trip.Planner to deliver seamless, personalised journeys. Looking ahead, the next wave of consumer growth will be driven by emotional alignment, cultural fluency, and tech-enabled flexibility – the foundations of the future of travel.
