With borders open and flight routes reinstated (almost) all over the world, this year will forever be known as the great travel reboot. In 2022, travellers learned how to travel again — exploring new terrain, rediscovering favourite places, and making the most of long layovers. As they end the year on a high, today Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform, looks back over the past year, unpacking all the good that was found along the way, at the trips that theyre taken and all the stories and memories that were brought back.
Despite over 2 years of bookmarking and saving holiday ideas, the big return was overwhelming for some – Where should I go first? What should I do next? Recent Tripadvisor research found that ‘Relax and Rejuvenate’ was the main trip purpose for 50% of travellers globally. It’s no wonder that in 2022, Tripadvisor saw travellers searching like never before. The most popular search terms were ‘Beach’ with 4.8 million searches, ‘Resort’ with 3.2 million searches and ‘Spa’ that was searched 1.7 million times.
Travellers were extra adventurous this year – looking to do something wild, wonderful and out of the ordinary to escape their daily routines. Some travellers apparently aren’t afraid of anything – this year they saw 1,636 shark-diving experiences booked, 16,563 ziplining tours booked and 47,015 ghost & vampire tour tickets sold.
Guidance and people-powered travel remain at the heart of Tripadvisor’s purpose. Without tips, reviews, recommendations and suggestions from people who have been there before, Tripadvisor wouldn’t be the invaluable resource that it has become for the millions who visit the platform every month. This year, Tripadvisor saw over 16 million five-bubble reviews written, 22 million helpful votes given and 387,000 forum threads created.
“They love to see our traveller community returning to what they do best – rediscovering the transformative power of travel again, and more importantly, coming together to share with others what they’ve found,” said Hilary Fischer-Groban, senior director of brand experience at Tripadvisor. “As they carry this momentum into the year ahead, they look forward to celebrating more of the impactful travel stories, incredible firsthand guidance, and thoughtful details you can only find on Tripadvisor.”
Here are some other awesome insights from 2022 they love to celebrate:
Trip planning was a major hit this year
There were nearly 6.5 million new Trips (travel itineraries) created on our platform. Whether a birthday weekend trip or solo-staycation, travellers made plans for just about everything. Just ask the travellers who named their trips “Birthday Tour De France” and “MEcation GETAWAY”
Travellers loved the big cities this year
Tripadvisor saw over 11 million traveller searches for Bangkok, Thailand, more than 43 million interested in London, England and 20 million looking up Las Vegas this year to date. Not forgetting the Big Apple, thanks to the millions of travellers who visited New York City, The Empire State Building won Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Attractions in the U.S. and they celebrated their big win by lighting the iconic building up in Tripadvisor green.
They wanted unique, special and totally one-of-a-kind experiences. Tripadvisor saw more travellers booking private, small group experiences like a reindeer sleigh ride in Finland and a Private Day Tour To Giza Pyramids, Memphis and Sakkara
Travellers were keen to share their best and worst moments along the way
18 million new photos were uploaded to Tripadvisor this year, capturing moments big and small. Shoutout to all the tour guides who shared their secrets and helped travellers feel at home.
This year, they also welcomed nearly 35.7 million new travel buddies to the Tripadvisor community. There are now close to 400 million travellers who visit Tripadvisor every month. They’re growing, sharing, reviewing and guiding each other as they rediscover travel so no matter where you are in the world, and what your travel plans look like, you’re never really alone.
