It looks like travel is making a comeback — finally.

Yes, with borders open and flight routes reinstated (almost) all over the world, this year will forever be known as the great travel reboot.

Learning to Travel Again

In 2022, travelers learned how to travel again — exploring new terrain, rediscovering favorite places, and making the most of long layovers. As we end the year on a high,  Tripadvisor, looked back over the past year, unpacking all the good that was found along the way, at the trips that were taken, and all the stories and memories that returned.

Despite more than two 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 primary trip purpose for 50% of travelers globally.

Big-time Searching

It’s no wonder that in 2022, Tripadvisor saw travelers searching like never before. The most popular search terms were ‘Beach’ with 4.8 million searches, ‘Resort’ with 3.2 million searches, and ‘Spa’ searched 1.7 million times.

Travelers were extra adventurous this year – looking to do something wild, wonderful, and out of the ordinary to escape their daily routines. Some travelers aren’t afraid of anything – this year we saw 1,636 shark-diving experiences booked, 16,563 ziplining tours booked and 47,015 ghost & vampire tour tickets sold.

“We love to see our traveler 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 we carry this momentum into the year ahead, we look forward to celebrating more impactful travel stories, incredible first-hand guidance, and thoughtful details you can only find on Tripadvisor.”

Highlights and Insights

Here are some insights from 2022 to note from the report:

  • Trip planning was a major hit this year:
    • There were nearly 6.5 million new trips (travel itineraries) created on the platform
    • Whether a birthday weekend trip or a solo staycation, travelers made plans for just about everything. Just ask the travelers who named their journeys “Birthday Tour De France” and “MEcation GETAWAY.“
  • Travelers loved the big cities this year:
    • Tripadvisor saw over 11 million traveler 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 travelers 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 on Tripadvisor green.
  • They wanted unique, memorable, and one-of-a-kind experiences:
  • Travelers 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:
  • All the good stuff adds up:
    • This year, the community reached over a billion contributions!
    • Travelers always had each other’s backs, serving up good recs, pep talks, and extra bug spray.
Methodology
  • The data cited in this release was gathered and analyzed from two key sources:
    • A Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, based on data drawn from an online survey of over 2,700 consumers, in partnership with Qualtrics, conducted between Sept. 27, 2022, through Oct. 6, 2022, across six countries – U.S., UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore, and Japan.
    • Site behavioral data sourced from first-party traffic data on the Tripadvisor platform, gathered during the week commencing Nov. 1, 2022, for travel between Jan. 1 through Nov. 1, 2022.

* Source: SimilarWeb, unique users de-duplicated monthly, September 2022 **
Source: Tripadvisor internal log files