With solo travel trending in 2026, many will be watching the market carefully. New data reveals solo travellers are booking trips closer to travel dates, prioritising cultural activities, food, and affordability, and have a yearning for Oceania and Asia, according to a new survey by FTLO trip curators.
The Travel Dreams survey asked solo travellers about their preferred destinations, trip planning methods, and timelines, with findings that place Oceania and Asia at the forefront of solo travellers’ wish lists.
Where do solo travellers want to go?
Two regions came equal first among travellers’ bucket-list destinations for 2026: Australia/Oceania and Asia. Making up the rest of the top five regions, Europe placed third, followed by South America and Africa.
This regional preference was reflected strongly in the results by country, which ranked Australia, Japan, and New Zealand as the top three countries overall.
Booking habits
It’s good news overall for the sector, with 42.1% of travellers saying they plan to travel more in 2026 than in 2025. Nearly half (49.4%) expect to make the same number of trips, and fewer than 10% (8.52%) said they plan to travel less.
However, those plans have not yet translated into revenue because for many travellers, these dream trips remain unfinalized. More than half of travellers (51%) said they have made reservations for any of their 2026 leisure trips yet. A further 29% had not yet booked all their 2026 trips, and just 20% said they’d already booked all their 2026 leisure travel.
Inspiration and motivations
A majority of respondents told the survey that they take trip inspiration from both personal recommendations and online media. Nearly two-thirds (65%) said they are inspired by friends and word of mouth, and 63% cited Instagram as an influence. Less than a quarter (22%) said they use TikTok for travel inspiration.
When it comes to selecting a destination, a majority (69%) of people chose cultural activities as a primary attraction. Food (47%) and affordability (44%) came second and third among the important criteria. Nightlife was only important to 13% of solo respondents.
In fact, nearly three-quarters (74.6%) in this solo segment of the market said they were simply seeking “to see the world” when asked what was motivating the trip. Experiencing “adventure” (44%) and “fun” (40%) were the second and third most popular reasons for travel. Meanwhile, 35.5% were seeking “connection,” one in five (20.2%) wanted to achieve personal growth.
