Phocuswright, the statistics arm of TravelPulse’s parent company, Northstar Travel Group, has published its slate of data looking ahead to 2026, called Travel Forward, without a paywall, offering open access to a database with some of the travel industry’s most important metrics.
Phocuswright shared some overarching data that defined that travel industry in 2025 and looked ahead to the future with research from Travel Forward during a media briefing on December 9.
“Today marks an important moment in the evolution of Travel Forward, our data-fueled, global research piece which brings together the most important topics we cover with a forward-looking lens,” said Pete Comeau, Managing Director of Phocuswright during the briefing. “We launched the first edition in December 2024, outside of our research paywall, and the response exceeded all expectations.”
“It quickly became the most-viewed research publication in Phocuswright’s history, which told us something very clear: the industry is hungry for ground, forward-thinking, actionable insight,” continued Comeau. “Travel Forward is our effort to synthesize the macro forces shaping travel, the signals emerging now, and the structural changes that will define it in the years ahead.”
The Travel Trends That Defined 2025
According to Phocuswright data, the global travel industry generated $11.7 trillion to the global gross domestic product (GDP): that means that every one in ten dollars was generated from the travel industry.
The travel industry also continues to grow in spending: international visitor spending reached a record $2.1 trillion globally this year, a record number. Global bookings are up 6 percent, at $1.7 trillion.
It also employed 371 million jobs worldwide, bigger than the employment base of Mexico and the United States combined.
While North America, Asia Pacific and Europe remain the top three travel markets, travelers from the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe represent the top three fastest-growing traveler markets.
In terms of booking, parts of the travel industry are majority online, including air and rail. Yet the digital industry is different by region, with every country’s trends being shaped by technology and the emergence of AI, geopolitical and economic pressure, as well as consumer shifts, with a greater focus on bleisure, wellness and travel with intention.
One-third of Americans have already used AI to plan their trips in the past year. It’s the highest market for AI utilization, with the U.K. at 22 percent, France at 19 percent and Germany at 15 percent.
Travel Forward: 2026
As we look ahead to next year, one major thing stands out: the next billion travelers will come not from the current largest markets, but from Latin America, the Middle East and the APAC (Asia and the Pacific) regions.
The Travel Forward research provides an all-access insight into the next year, including technology trends, market sizing and consumer insights. Readers can learn about how the industry’s no longer focused on a post-pandemic recovery, but a more moderate trajectory towards something different.
Within the platform, there’s information on regions, markets, countries, hotel data, short-term rental data, research on OTAs, corporate travel, as well as AI and traveler technology research.
The 2025 Loyalty Report
Phocuswright also shared some interesting data from its recent research on brand loyalty, finding that the entire brand experience is the more important factor beyond offering points and miles earning and redemption systems.
The data suggests that while over a third of American travelers have preferred airlines, lodging brands and OTAs, they’re also flexible about using ones that aren’t their preferred, in large part due to a better fit for reasons that include a better fit for their chosen destination or route, budget or even novelty.
During the economic shifts of the past year, loyalty programs have also been well-utilized: 52 percent of travelers paid for at least one part of their trip with a loyalty redemption, with Millennials taking advantage of credit card perks and Boomers utilizing their airline miles and points.
Eighty-four percent of travelers with loyalty rewards programs engaged in “loyalty gaming” practices designed to reap the benefits of their loyalty program. These practices could include buying airline gift cards during a bonus point promotion, and using them for their next trip, to making a credit card purchase on behalf of a friend or family member to earn points.
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