In 2024, the travel sector has been breaking boundaries. Through March 2024, consumer spending on travel remains strong, and passenger traffic has soared. Mastercard Economics Institute anticipates this momentum will continue as consumers prioritize meaningful experiences and allocate more of their budgets to travel. More than ever, consumers are empowered by a strong labor market to embrace experiences with travel at the top of the list.
We found that travelers are extending their trips by an extra day over the 12 months ending March 2024 compared to the same period in 2019, highlighting a growing desire for more immersive and meaningful travel experiences. In addition to air travel, vacationing by cruise has experienced extraordinary growth, surpassing 2019 records.
Despite challenges like fluctuating exchange rates, climate concerns and varying levels of affordability, the desire to travel remains strong. People are becoming more strategic about how, when, and where they travel, with 2024 seeing significant shifts in travel patterns.
In the Mastercard Economics Institute's fifth annual travel report, "Travel Trends 2024: Breaking Boundaries," we explore these evolving trends and the state of travel in 2024 and beyond.
Global
Breaking Boundaries, Smashing Records
Globally, nine out of the last 10 all-time record spending days in both cruise and airlines have happened in 2024. 1
2024 has kicked off with strong growth in the travel industry – in terms of spending but also the number of people traveling. The year started with strong momentum, and the Mastercard Economics Institute expects it to continue:
Some noteworthy examples of this strength in 2024:
- Passengers traveling: An all-time high of about 15.9 million Americans traveled internationally in Q1 2024 while Japan welcomed over 3 million passenger arrivals in March 2024 2
- Consumer spending: As of March 2024, nine out of the last 10 record-setting spending days in the global cruise and airline industry were in 2024 3
- Leisure for longer: Tourists spend more time on vacation, by about one extra day relative to pre-COVID trends, particularly for lower-cost destinations
- Traveling for events: Memorable events are driving travel trends, whether it is for concerts or sporting events - look out for a rush of travelers to Munich for the opening game of the European Championship
- Top gainers: Japan, Ireland and Romania experienced the strongest growth in share of spending from tourists relative to last year
Analyzing aggregated & anonymized Mastercard transaction data, we find that records are being broken in the travel economy, as illustrated by the chart below. We can thank the solid economic backdrop - the healthy labor market around the world is allowing consumers to spend more on travel.
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Leisure for Longer
Worldwide, travelers are extending their trips by about a day on average.
We found that tourists are spending more time on vacation – about one extra day relative to what was normal pre-COVID. Longer stays in destinations generally translate to longer spend per trip, too, which benefits local businesses.
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and Europe have been benefitting the most from this trend, both with roughly two extra days spent while in destination. Conversely, the United States has benefitted less from this new trend, having seen a smaller increase in extended trip lengths. 4
In the last section of this report, we dive deeper into why this has been happening.
Eventful Economy
This year, Munich, Germany, ranks as the top trending destination due to the European Championship.
Consumers are traveling for memorable events ranging from Solar Eclipses to Taylor Swift shows, Carnival in Brazil, and the Cricket World Cup. These events provide strong incremental spending lift to businesses near and adjacent to the area. For example: 5
- The spending lift from tourists during the 2024 Carnival in Rio de Janeiro at restaurants, bars and grocery stores increased 156% above what would have happened without the event.
- During the US solar eclipse, hotel sales within the path of totality experienced a 71% sales boost over normal business.
- Restaurant sales within 2.5 miles of the Taylor Swift concerts in 2023 gained an incremental 68% above regular business.
The rest of 2024 is earmarked with a range of notable events that the Mastercard Economics Institute expects to attract record numbers of travelers from around the world. In the “trending destinations” section, we highlight the destinations showing the greatest shift in demand from June 2024 through August 2024. Among the top of the list? Munich, Germany, where the opening game of the European Championship will occur.
Pricey Push & Pull
Prices remain elevated, but the travel industry is well positioned with a resilient consumer.
In the travel & leisure industry, consumer prices – especially in the hotel industry – remain elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels. 6 With elevated price levels, we’ve found a growing number of consumers seek out wallet-friendly travel options. Why are prices in the travel industry still elevated?
In economics, the terms “cost-push” and “demand-pull” are sometimes used to describe why inflation is happening. For this year, both concepts are happening.
Cost-push inflation is the type of inflation that is caused when the cost to provide a service like flying or lodging goes up. In the travel & leisure hospitality, there are many such pressures. A mix of constrained capacity, supply shortages and elevated labor costs are contributing to “cost-push” inflation in 2024. Examples relevant to 2024 include plane shortages, pilot shortages, and broad increases in real wage growth.
The other type of driver of inflation – demand-pull – happens when there are more people who want to travel than there are available seats or rooms, prompting higher prices. The Mastercard Economics Institute expects to continue seeing many such occurrences of demand-pull inflation throughout the course of the year, in part due to the experience economy and extremely high extent of travel intentions. For example, when more people want to attend their favorite sporting event than there are available rooms, accommodations services providers can increase prices and remain fully occupied. While it is relatively more painful to shell out extra money for consumers, the rooms will still be fully booked, and this serves as a relief to hotels & motels, which were among the most severely impacted due to protracted shutdowns in 2020-2022. The pent-up demand has been providing a breath of fresh air to the hospitality industry in 2024.
The result? Prices remain elevated in the travel, leisure & hospitality industry – but not worryingly so – globally, the Mastercard Economics Institute expect continued real disposable income growth to serve as a tailwind in 2024. Paired with a strong willingness to travel and greater ease of doing so, the Mastercard Economics Institute expects continued momentum in the space in 2024 and beyond.
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Cruising Full Steam Ahead
Cruises are making a strong comeback with the count of global cruise passenger transactions roughly 16% above 2019 levels in Q1.
The number of transactions made by consumers on cruises (while on-board and for booking) had an impressive start in 2024, comfortably surpassing 2019 levels. Mastercard Economics Institute analysis found that the count of global cruise transactions in Q1 of 2024 is roughly 16% above 2019. As consumers crave new and different experiences, it’s not just travel by air that is growing impressively. 7
Given persistent price increases in the hotel industry, the price difference between cruises and hotels has widened, making trips by cruise a relatively more budget-friendly option in many cases.
Asia Pacific
South Asia
India
Travel has been democratizing rapidly in India and the Mastercard Economics Institute expects this to continue with nearly 20 million more people entering the middle class over the next five years.
Strengthened by a growing middle class, additional route capacity and a strong desire to travel, 2024 marks the year when more Indians are traveling than any time in history. Official data indicates that the first three months of the year, between January and March 2024, have registered 97 million passengers traveling through Indian airports for both domestic and international trips. Roughly 10 years ago, achieving numbers like these would have taken a full year rather than three months. 8
A growing number of Indian travelers with improving incomes bodes well for the travel industry. India is likely to add more than 20 million middle-class people (earning more than US$15,000 annually) and nearly 2 million high-income people (earning more than US$80k annually) in the next five years. 9 Air traffic data suggests that, like with the rest of Asia Pacific, domestic traffic has started the year with the most momentum. However, international passenger traffic has grown meaningfully, too, with country-wide domestic passenger traffic 21% above 2019 levels and international passenger traffic up 4% as of March 2024.
India’s travel sector has grown rapidly through March 2024 – especially the outbound Indian traveler segment – propelled by an expanding affluent consumer base seeking luxury experiences. There has been a growing desire for jewelry and lavish clothing options. Evolving spending patterns reflect the nation’s growing disposable incomes and aspirational lifestyles.
We analyzed market-wide Indian passenger arrival data for three travel destinations: the United States, Japan, and Vietnam. In the U.S., a strong dollar may have influenced tourists who typically would want to visit the U.S. but instead may be choosing to go elsewhere.
However, India is clearly an exception. As of March 2024, Indian passenger arrivals into the U.S. were 59% above 2019. By comparison, the aggregate recovery of all overseas visitors into the U.S. is still 6% below 2019 in the same period.
Meanwhile, the number of Indians traveling to Japan surged in March 2024, 53% above 2019 levels. So far this year, about 50,000 Indian travelers have visited Japan. For reference, just 10 years ago, it would have taken closer to a full year to reach this level of Indian travelers to Japan.
Flights into Vietnam from India are even more incredible. By March 2024, the number of passengers relative to the same month in 2019 was up a jaw-dropping 248%. 10
Passenger traffic across India has also seen a range of interesting dynamics. Regionally, Chennai has just seen total passenger traffic exceed 2019 levels in March 2024 – an important milestone in the travel recovery. In Bangalore, domestic passenger traffic has remained steadily above 2019 levels for the past 12 months, partly due to workers returning to their offices and many services workers in the city.
Over time, the Mastercard Economics Institute expects the travel industry to become increasingly democratized in India, driven by a growing middle class and favorable supply dynamics with more routes coming online monthly. Between April and June 2024, about 24 routes have either resumed or launched.
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ASEAN
Within the ASEAN region, passenger traffic has been rebounding, particularly for shorter regional trips. For example, this summer's top trending destinations for travelers from Singapore include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Perth. 11
In addition to trips closer to home, strengthening of the Singaporean dollar against the Japanese Yen has spurred a significant increase in travel from Singapore to Japan. As of March 2024 year-to-date, passengers from Singapore into Japan increased by an impressive 43% compared to the same period in 2019.
Thailand has been one of the markets most affected by economic changes in recent years, largely due to its heavy reliance on tourism, which previously contributed about 10% to its GDP, according to Mastercard Economics Institute analysis. However, there is optimism for 2024 as the Mastercard Economics Institute projects 2024 the year Thailand fully recovers to its pre-pandemic economic levels.
Thailand
Visitors to Thailand from ASEAN surpassed 2019 levels this year.
Passenger traffic into Thailand has been returning to 2019 traffic levels in 2024. Before the pandemic, the country’s economic activity from tourism flows as a percent of its GDP, was 10%. The absence of tourists severely hurt the country’s economy.
Regionally, official statistics suggest Thailand gets the most support from passengers closer to home. Flight traffic into the country from South Asia and the ASEAN region is now nearly 25% above 2019 levels in February 2024. Travelers coming into Thailand from other regions, including Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, and Oceania, are still below 2019 levels, but it’s getting close. Visitor arrivals are now 7% below 2019 levels. 12
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Northeast Asia
Within Northeast Asia, Japan has been among the most interesting stories in the travel space this year, seeing record-breaking passenger flows into the country driven by a historically weak yen (the lowest on record since March 1990). 13
Across the ocean, Chinese Mainland’s travel dynamic has shifted, increasing importance domestically as a larger share of passengers from Chinese Mainland are traveling domestically. While this has created a boost for local Chinese Mainland businesses, many markets historically reliant on travelers from Chinese Mainland have seen a corresponding share shift in favor of travelers from the U.S., Europe, and the rest of Asia Pacific.
Japan
Record-setting passenger traffic into Japan with over 3 million – more than ever – visitor arrivals in March 2024.
Japan has experienced a surge of travelers visiting the country. In March 2024, Japan welcomed 3,081,600 visitors from abroad – the highest level ever – and it’s not even the peak of the travel season yet. 14
At the same time, visitor arrivals from Chinese Mainland to Japan are about 36.5% down from levels seen in 2019 – highlighting just how remarkable the headline number is as fewer travelers from a large tourism market persist. 15
So where are all the passengers coming from? The chart below shows the share shift of tourists arriving in Japan, which highlights the larger contribution of North American and European travelers in Japan. 16
Chinese Mainland
Domestic travel is 15% above 2019 levels in March 2024, while international traffic is set to recover later.
Domestic passenger traffic in Chinese Mainland has fully normalized, with numbers about 15% higher than the same month in 2019 as of Q1 2024, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The domestic tourism story is positive with demand exceeding 2019 levels. This is partly attributed to a shift in domestic destination preferences as interest in local tourism expands. 17
Meanwhile, international tourism traffic leaving the market is yet to recover and is currently at 19.7% below 2019 levels as of March 2024. The shares of passenger traffic in Chinese Mainland have accordingly reshaped over the past few years with emphasis on domestic tourism. 18
North America
United States
As of March 2024, U.S. passenger traffic to overseas countries is 20% higher than the pre-COVID record.
Through Q1 2024, the U.S. travel story has been marked by a contrasting outbound and inbound dynamic. By November 2022, the number of U.S. travelers departing overseas (excluding Canada and Mexico) had exceeded 2019 levels. Today, U.S. travel overseas is 20% above that level as of March 2024. 19
By comparison, visitor traffic arrivals into the U.S. from abroad remain 6% below 2019 levels as of March 2024. The good news? At its current pace, the Mastercard Economics Institute estimates foreign passenger traffic into the U.S. should exceed 2019 levels later this year.
Desire to travel internationally has been surging in the U.S.
According to the Conference Board survey of consumer attitudes and buying plans in the U.S., the latest data as of April 2024 indicates that about 1 in 5 of survey respondents plan to travel internationally over the next 6 months, a record high since the survey started in February 1967. This has been a recovery of epic proportions when compared to the height of the pandemic. During the same time in 2020, only 1 in every 20 Americans intended to travel. In 2019? About 1 in 10. 20
Tourism arrivals
Through March 2024, India emerges as a standout performer for U.S. inbound tourism, with a remarkable increase of 162,000 visitors compared to 2019 levels, according to official statistics. This surge underscores India’s status as a global outperformer, demonstrating resilience despite the strong dollar relative to the rupee and highlighting an empowered Indian consumer base. 21
Meanwhile, most other Asia-Pacific markets are on a lengthier trajectory toward normalization. Despite substantial declines from countries like Japan and Chinese Mainland, with deficits of 478,000 and 367,000 visitors in 2024 YTD respectively, 2024 and 2025 are when the Mastercard Economics Institute expects most – if not all – of these markets make a full recovery.
This bifurcation in passenger traffic between the top-performing and underperforming markets underscores the uneven impact of global economic conditions on international tourism into the U.S. While India shows robust growth, the slower recovery in the Asia-Pacific region highlights ongoing challenges and potential delays in returning to pre-pandemic levels. For many underperformers, the Mastercard Economics Institute expects a continued gradual recovery back to normal in the coming years.
Canada
Warmer months grow in popularity for key travel corridors.
We observed some notable seasonal shifts in tourism spending shares for Canadian travelers. 22 Chasing pleasant weather in both summer and winter is evidently an increasing priority for Canadian travelers.
In the chart below, we measure how much under or over the month’s sales were relative to the rest of the year to capture the seasonally popular spending periods. The more positive the value, the more tourism spending happens during that time of the year. The more negative, the less tourism spending happens. 23
Between 2019 and 2023, the share of tourism sales in France done by Canadian tourists increased for May – the shoulder season (more about this in the Europe section). Closer in the United States, July and August - historically the most popular times for Canadians to visit - both gained in share.
These results highlight a Canadian traveler who has been more willing to be out and about during the warmer season.
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Along with chasing nice weather in 2023, so far in 2024, Canadians have been chasing cherry blossoms in Japan more than ever before. A record-breaking 57,800 Canadians passengers arrived into Japan in March 2024, the highest level since at least 1996. 24
Europe
Tourism continues to outperform in European countries, partly driven by Americans.
The travel industry in Europe shines as one of the most resilient sectors within the European economy. Despite facing inflation and higher interest rates post-pandemic, consumer demand for travel has remained strong. 2023 was an important milestone for European tourism, marking the year in which a full recovery in the number of overnight stays was reached, totaling 2.91 billion stays in 2023, up from 2.88 billion in 2019. 25
The outperformance of travel has driven an outperformance of economies with high tourism, such as Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Travel demand remains strong in 2024, with European flight traffic and overnight stays continuing to grow above 2023 levels. 26
The significance of U.S. tourists (discussed in the North America section) has risen in Europe. For example, official tourism statistics show that the U.S. share of arrivals in Spain rose from 4% in 2019 to 5% in 2023, in Portugal from 6% to 9%, in the UK from 13% to 16%. The challenge is now to accommodate additional demand with limited flight and accommodation capacity. Tourists are adapting by seeking new destinations and traveling at different times. 27
Sunshine and bargains
With consumers adjusting to higher prices, cheaper (but still sunny) destinations are seeing strong travel growth.
In 2024, the cheaper seaside destinations of Albania, Croatia and Turkey are registering among the highest growth in flight traffic. Tourism in Albania has grown strongly, with the number of flight routes doubling since 2019 and tourist arrivals rising from 12 million in 2019 to 17 million in 2023. 28
That said, demand for the more frequented beach destinations in Greece, Portugal and Spain remains solid, with these countries seeing strong travel growth outside the peak summer months.
The shoulder season: beat the crowds and the heat
Tourists in Europe are shifting away from peak summer (July-August) towards “shoulder” months (May-June and September-October). 29 This shift makes continued growth in European travel possible as peak summer hits capacity constraints.
The countries with the biggest shift away from peak summer months include Mediterranean countries like Croatia, Greece, Portugal and Italy. However, even northern countries like Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands have seen a shift away from peak summer months.
This suggests that it’s more than just hotter summers driving this change. Two major demographic shifts are likely also at play: more retirees (free from work obligations) and more households without children (free from school calendars).
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Caribbean
Affordable destinations have been outperforming but luxury has been catching up.
Over the past 12 months through March 2024, the Caribbean countries whose hotel sales are growing the quickest tended to be relatively more wallet-friendly. We segmented 30 Caribbean markets into two categories – the markets with the highest and lowest hotel prices – and tracked their sales performance. While the travel recovery has been advancing across the entire Caribbean, hotel sales in the islands with relatively more affordable hotel options were the outperformers. 30
This highlights a broad-based travel recovery. Those who are traveling to the Caribbean are not just the highest income households but represent a broader customer base as well. In our Trending Destinations section, this pattern should continue through the summer of 2024, with Aruba and the Dominican Republic both in the top five trending destinations for U.S. travelers this year.
Meanwhile, in the countries with relatively higher prices catering to higher-income individuals, hotel sales relatively underperformed the more affordable destinations. This could be driven by the “wealth effect.” Due to stock market declines throughout 2022, higher-end hotel sales relatively lagged in 2023. For context, by January 2023, the U.S. stock market was roughly 13% below its prior peak. At the same time, hotel sales in pricier destinations also flattened somewhat. But since then, the U.S. stock market has recovered nearly 25%. The gap in hotel sales for the relatively more expensive destinations has narrowed, catching up to the relatively less expensive areas. 31
The Bahamas
Over 80% of visitors to the Bahamas are coming by sea.
Over the last 12 months ending February 2024, the Bahamas welcomed 5.2 million passengers by sea and 1.6 million by air, according to visitor arrival data from the Department of Statistics of Bahamas.
Over time, market-wide visitor arrivals by sea have grown increasingly important to tourism in the Bahamas. Ever since arrivals data was collected beginning in 1991, a greater share of tourists arrives by sea. Over the trailing 12 months ending February 2024, about 82% of visitors to the Bahamas traveled by sea. 32
In looking at the change in the number of visitor arrivals relative to 2019 (Feb 2024 trailing 12 months vs. Feb 2019 trailing 12 months), the Bahamas has experienced a large inflow of cruise visitors: an additional 2.9 million passengers coming by sea and an extra 122,000 by air.
Latin America
Latin America
Recreation outperforming closer to home than outside of LAC, with budget friendliness and digitalization playing a role.
Through March 2024, leisure-related transaction growth in the recreation sector (covering industries such as museums, movies and amusement parks) has been outperforming closer to home within LAC versus farther away from home outside of the LAC region. 33 This trend likely reflects two things: a budget seeking preferential shift closer to home driven by things like foreign exchange and inflation, and relatively faster growth of digital payments adoption within the leisure industry across Latin America driving some of the outperformance.
In the chart below, we illustrate this point by looking at the equally weighted relative performance of spending originating from 8 Latin American economies: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. We measure the number of transactions per active account to understand, in relative terms, the consumer-level shifts by transactions made within and outside the LAC region. Recreation transactions per account are nearing back to their 2019 peak within the region, set to surpass this important milestone in the first half of 2024 at its current pace, whereas recreation outside of LAC is on a slower trajectory. 34
Argentina
Devaluing the peso may be great for incoming tourists and create greater focus on domestic tourism for Argentinians.
The Argentine peso started 2024 at historically weak levels. This carries a set of important implications for the Argentinian tourism market. Specifically, the favorable exchange rates attract tourists with stronger currencies, creating the potential for a surge of spending that benefits the local economy through a net inflow of money. For international visitors flying into Argentina, money stretches further when converted to pesos. However, this exchange rate dynamic works in both ways. For Argentinians, the weak peso reduces their buying power abroad, potentially making international travel prohibitively expensive for many.
How have passenger arrivals into Argentina taken shape? Given the favorable exchange rates, Chilean, Brazilian and American passenger traffic into the market picked up speed in February 2024. The number of passenger arrivals into Argentina from Brazil notably jumped to 38% above 2019 levels in February 2024. Brazilian travelers appear to be taking advantage of a record-low Argentinian peso.
Passenger traffic to Argentina from Europe has been relatively softer. This makes sense given greater emphasis on bargain deals from Europe, intercontinental flights that are relatively pricier and greater focus on intra-European travel this year. Passenger traffic from the rest of the world has been mostly impaired by a recovery still underway from Chinese visitors. (Although, with foreign exchange dynamics favoring the yuan and international travel gradually picking up from Chinese Mainland, a quicker-than-expected recovery would not be surprising).
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Middle East & North Africa
Tourism spending shares shift closer to home.
In 2024, travelers leaving the MENA region are increasingly strategic with where and when they travel.
With North America’s relatively higher prices, travelers from the MENA region are increasingly reallocating their lodging spend closer to home within the region. 35 For example, the share of lodging sales has increased by two percentage points in 2024 versus 2019 in the trailing 12 months ending March 2024. This is part of a global theme where we have seen consumers increasingly savvier about their travel budgets.
This pattern shows up even more dramatically in tourism apparel shopping. According to Mastercard Economics Institute analysis, travelers are shopping far more for apparel intra-regionally, with an approximate 10 percentage point increase in the share of clothing spend within the Middle East.
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Egypt
As foreign exchange devalues, inbound Egyptian tourism could pick up in 2024.
If there’s one thing we’ve seen over the past few months, it is that markets with significant foreign exchange devaluation have also tended to see a meaningful pickup in tourism activity in ( Japan & Argentina). As the Egyptian pound has recently devaluated by over 60%, it follows that inbound tourism may pick up soon, too.
All eyes will be on Egypt in 2027 when a total eclipse happens right above the pyramids. Many businesses in the travel, leisure and hospitality industries are already planning for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Our analysis of the solar eclipse in the U.S. in 2024 found a substantial lift in sales.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Growing digitalization drives greater convenience for tourists visiting sub-Saharan Africa
The digitalization of sub-Saharan Africa has meant less reliance on cash for tourists.
Growth in digital payments and less reliance on cash in sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in shifts in spending patterns within tourism. According to the latest data from The Global Findex Database , digitalization across the region has increased, with about 50% of people across sub-Saharan Africa receiving digital payments. The region has been adopting digital payments faster than the rest of the world. In 2017, the difference in share between sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide was about 18 percentage points. The latest data shows the differential has narrowed to about 15 percentage points.
According to Mastercard Economics Institute estimates, the percentage of tourism cash volumes (measured by ATM withdrawals as a proportion of card spend) made by tourists while visiting sub-Saharan Africa dropped to the lowest point on record in 2024 – about 10 percentage points lower compared to 2019. 36 This formalization of the payments ecosystem has implications across sub-Saharan Africa, from supporting tax revenues that fund public services to giving businesses a more efficient means of providing consumer goods and services. While domestically, most digital payments across the region are made through mobile money payments, travelers rely on their cards to make payments in the region more than ever before.
Top 10 Global Trending Travel Destinations for Summer 2024 (June through August)
Munich ranks as the number one trending summer destination, followed by Tokyo. But one unexpected destination ranks high, too.
We analyzed flight booking data for the summer season, spanning from June 2024 to August 2024, and calculated each destination's share of total travel by origin market. By comparing these shares to their typical levels, we identified the top 10 markets by origin that have experienced the most significant gains. These trending destinations have seen the largest increase in their share of flight bookings and signal shifts in traveler preferences. As some markets gain a larger share of bookings, others may experience a relative decrease in share, even if overall passenger traffic increases. 36
According to Mastercard Economics Institute analysis, Munich ranks as the topmost trending global tourist destination from June 2024 through August 2024, with the largest increase in tourism demand heading into the summer, relative to normal levels. Munich will be hosting the opening game of the European Championship in football (soccer) in June.
Tokyo ranks number two on the list, where a historically weak yen and a full year of no restrictions has brought tourists back in waves, higher than historically normal levels. While Japan has already seen an extraordinary inflow of passengers flying into the country, this data suggests the momentum continues to build. Number three on the list may be less expected. Tirana, Albania is a short drive from many coastal hotels and is notably much more wallet-friendly compared to the major tourism hubs in other coastal European countries.
Finally, what do Nice, France; Cancun, Mexico; Bali, Indonesia; Bangkok; Kerkyra, Island of Corfu, Greece; and Aruba have in common? The beach. These areas each rank in the top 10 worldwide trending destinations.
To see where tourists are traveling by market, tap the dropdown below to change the point of origin:
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Where have tourists been traveling to over the last 12 months?
Japan, Ireland and Romania lead the top 10 destinations in the past year.
We ranked the top 10 trending markets over the past 12 months ending March 2024 (measured by the change in share of tourism transactions over the last 12 months). Notably, four out of the top five markets are European destinations. Asia Pacific is making a comeback, as 50% of the top 10 markets are Asia Pacific destinations. 37
Japan emerges as a clear frontrunner, with a local economy benefitting from a surge in tourist activity with the foreign exchange working in the favor of Japanese businesses catering to tourists.
Italy and Spain came in four and five respectively and have enjoyed strong demand for warm, sunny climates from travelers across the globe.
Romania notably ranked high up on the list at number 3. This is in part thanks to Romania joining the Schengen Area, which prompted airlines to expand service to Romania. This move has brought in additional tourists notably from Spain, Sweden and Denmark.
This section focuses on the emerging consumer spending trends playing out while in-destination. We found a collection of interesting themes unraveling globally. For instance, experiential-oriented spend continues to gain importance in the priorities of travelers globally. We also analyze luxury apparel and fine dining versus more casual options and notice interesting patterns playing out worldwide.
SpendingPulse™ Destinations: The experience and nightlife economy keeps growing
Mastercard SpendingPulse TM Destinations provides worldwide estimates of tourism at a high frequency level across all payment types. To get the full dataset, request a demo.
Travelers globally continue to prioritize experiences. Tourists have spent more on nightlife and less on retail shopping, which has recovered at a slower pace. In the sections below, we explore various facets of how travelers spend while in their destination.
Experiences
Spending on experiences and nightlife totals 12% of tourism sales - highest point in at least five years.
The share of total sales attributed to global tourism spending on experiences is 12% as of March 2024, according to SpendingPulse Destinations - the higher than ever before. We analyzed this worldwide share along with spending by tourists departing from Australia, Germany, Chinese Mainland, Italy, U.S. and U.K. Relative to other tourists, Australians tend to spend one of every five dollars on experiences and nightlife – compared to the global average, which is closer to one in every 10 dollars. Demand for experiences has been building from tourists departing from Chinese Mainland. Just a year ago, the share of outbound tourism spend was about 7%, and as of March 2024, the number is about 10%. 38
Luxury apparel shopping in Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is up 152% and 61% versus last year.
Just as we have seen a bifurcation in where tourists travel to date in 2024, we have also seen a bifurcation in categories where tourists spend. To understand these trends better, the Mastercard Economics Institute segmented tourism spending in the apparel and dining industries based on whether establishments provide a high-end luxury offering or a more casual one. While both the dining and apparel industries benefit from tourists craving new experiences – and looking good in the process – we found that certain markets had much stronger demand for the luxury segment than casual one and vice versa. 40
Based on data to date, destinations in Asia Pacific and other popular luxury destinations, including France, Italy and the U.K., show robust luxury spending growth. In contrast, casual apparel spending growth outperforms in other markets that don’t typically cater to luxury shoppers.
In the UAE, March 2024 tourism shopping for luxury fashion is roughly 61% higher than last year's levels, gaining in part thanks to the recovery of travel from Asia Pacific.
In the casual apparel segment, markets where tourism apparel spending growth has relatively outperformed in the luxury apparel segment include Thailand, Colombia, and Mexico, which has changed by 69%, 25%, and 14% versus last year, respectively. Luxury apparel shopping in Mexico stands out as a clear example of underperformance, 22% below the same time last year, in part thanks to an exceptionally strong Peso – hitting its highest level relative to the U.S. dollar in 5 years. The Peso’s appreciation appears to have priced some tourists out of Mexico’s luxury retail market for now.
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In the dining segment, the picture has been mixed, too, depending on the destination. For instance, tourists traveling to Spain and Brazil favor a more laid-back dining experience with casual dining spending growth outperforming, according to a Mastercard Economics Institute analysis. Meanwhile, a burgeoning fine dining scene in India has translated to marginal outperformance of the fine dining category for in-destination tourism dining.
In Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, and the U.K., in-destination tourism spending on casual dining is outperforming the fine dining category, highlighting the preferential shift of tourists seeking out budget-friendly choices.
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Travelers are staying one extra day, translating to an extra boost for destinations.
Globally, Mastercard Economics Institute analysis suggests leisure travelers are enjoying longer trips – by about an extra day. For the 12 months between March 2019 and February 2020, a trip's average length of stay was just about four days. As of March 2024, the length of a leisure trip globally is close to five days. 40
These longer stays carry a range of important implications. For instance, longer stays generally translate to more spend per trip. This increase in the number of days translates to a greater economic boost for businesses supporting local economies in the travel industry. For markets such as Thailand, where dependence on tourism is extremely high, these extra days make a significant difference.
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What has been driving these longer stays? We found a variety of factors at play, including affordability and climate.
Affordability of the destination
We compared the change in prices at hotels paid by tourists in over 100 destinations at hotels and how much longer tourists spend while in those destinations. We found a clear inverse relationship between the price of the destination and the incremental number of days tourists spend while in those destinations. In other words, the cheaper the destination, the longer the stay.
Enjoyable climates
Generally, the warmer the destination, the more time consumers tend to spend in the destination. The scatterplot below shows the average temperature within a country and the average length of a trip in that destination. For each extra 6 degrees Celsius of the temperature, the estimated change in length of stay is approximately one day. It’s worth noting that this isn’t completely linear. For instance, popular (and cooler) ski destinations buck this trend, and when temperatures get too hot, the length of stay drops moderately.
Boundaries are made to be broken, and tourists have been doing just that by spending in the sector in record numbers around the world. Whether it’s cruise ship bookings or top destinations offering great value and unforgettable experiences, the appetite for travel continues to grow. But today’s traveler isn’t indiscriminately traveling. Tourists today are savvy enough to know where to go to stretch their funds and enjoy a longer stay whenever possible. As 2024 continues, we’ll be watching how, where and when consumers travel and what it means for the destination countries. Until then, Bon Voyage!
Footnotes
1 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched consumer volumes (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX) through March 2024.
2 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis, US ITA, Japan National Tourism Organization
3 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched consumer volumes (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX) through March 2024.
4 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized flight booking data of leisure travel provided by third party partners.
5 Analysis in the subsequent bullets based on Mastercard Economics Institute estimates of incremental sales boost of aggregated & anonymized leisure related volumes during events (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX).
6 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of official consumer price index (CPI) and personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index data.
7 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched consumer transactions made throughout the cruise industry.
8 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Airports Authority of India passenger traffic data.
9 Mastercard Economics Institute estimates of demographic trends across India.
10 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of passenger arrival data in Vietnam, United States and Japan, sourced from U.S. NTTO, Japan National Tourism Organization and Vietnam General Statistics Office
11 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized leisure flight booking data provided by third party partners through the end of March 2024.
12 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Thailand Department of Tourism visitor arrival data through the end of February 2024.
13 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Japan National Tourism Organization visitor arrival data through the end of March 2024.
14 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Japan National Tourism Organization visitor arrival data through the end of March 2024.
15 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Japan National Tourism Organization visitor arrival data through the end of March 2024.
16 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Japan National Tourism Organization visitor arrival data through the end of March 2024.
17 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) market-wide passenger traffic through the end of March 2024.
18 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) market-wide passenger traffic through the end of March 2024.
19 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) market-wide passenger traffic through the end of March 2024.
20 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of U.S. ITA data measuring aggregate passenger traffic abroad through the end of March 2024.
21 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of Conference Board survey of consumer attitudes through April 2024.
22 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of U.S. NTTA passenger arrivals through the end of March 2024.
23 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related transactions (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX).
24 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related transactions (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX)
25 Mastercard Economics Institute Analysis of Japan National Tourism Organization visitor arrival data through the end of March 2024.
26 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of official data from Eurostat.
27 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of Eurocontrol flight traffic data.
28 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of official data from Eurostat.
29 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of official data from Eurostat.
30 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of official data from Eurostat.
31 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related hotel volumes (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX). “Relatively more affordable” and “relatively more expensive” defined by proprietary clustering algorithm.
32 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related volumes (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX). “Relatively more affordable” and “relatively more expensive” defined by proprietary clustering algorithm.
33 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of visitor arrival data from the Department of Statistics of Bahamas
34 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related transactions normalized to growth in the number of active accounts.
35 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related transactions normalized to growth in the number of active accounts.
36 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized switched leisure travel related volumes (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX).
37 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized leisure flight booking data provided by third party partners. Analysis focused on incremental change in share above normal for future departure dates between June 2024 through August 2024. Reflects estimates as of April 15th, 2024. Share gains subject to change as not all flights have been booked for the summer period.
38 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized Mastercard leisure travel related switched transactions
39 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of SpendingPulse Destinations ending March 2024.
40 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized Mastercard switched consumer travel related volumes (nominal US dollars unadjusted for FX). Analysis focuses on a sample of apparel retailers and restaurants providing a “casual” or “luxury” experience measured by average price point paid by consumers.
41 Mastercard Economics Institute analysis of aggregated & anonymized flight booking data provided by third party partners.
About the Mastercard Economics Institute
Mastercard Economics Institute launched in 2020 to analyze macroeconomic trends through the lens of the consumer. A team of economists, analysts and data scientists draws on Mastercard insights — including Mastercard SpendingPulse™ — and third-party data to deliver regular reporting on economic issues for key customers, partners and policymakers.
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