From "all-exclusive" packages and trailside couples therapy to AI that minds your inbox on vacation, Booking.com's 2027 travel predictions show Canadian travellers rewriting the rules of the getaway.
The perfectly packaged vacation is losing its grip. Booking.com’s 2027 travel predictions, released October 14, point to Canadians who want to pay only for what they use, travel with fewer (and better-chosen) companions, and pick destinations by how they want to feel.
Now in its 11th year, the forecast draws on a survey of 28,230 travellers across 32 countries and territories, including 1,007 Canadians, conducted in July and August 2026. Here are the nine trends shaping 2027.
1. The All-Exclusive
The open bar you’re skipping and the buffet you’re avoiding are no longer selling points. With 56 per cent of Canadian travellers saying a health, body or lifestyle change has influenced their vacation choices, 71 per cent now want packages that let them remove elements they won’t use. And 47 per cent would let their diet influence the accommodation or destination they choose.
2. Trailside Therapy
The couples getaway is getting more honest. Thirty-nine per cent of Canadians would consider a trip to resolve conflicts or arguments, and 67 per cent say at least one vacation activity helps them have difficult conversations. Walking or hiking together (33 per cent) ranked among the most effective. Date night, meet daylight.
3. Plot Twist Trip
Sixty-nine per cent of Canadian travellers are interested in a vacation chosen specifically to do something completely out of character, and 29 per cent actively want to surprise friends and family with where they go. For the 24 per cent who have skipped posting a trip because it felt too predictable, 2027 may finally deliver something worth sharing.
4. Social Currency
Budget is becoming the most ruthless filter on the guest list. Forty-one per cent of Canadians have reconsidered who to invite on a trip because of differences in spending, and 42 per cent have experienced tension over money expectations while away. Twenty-seven per cent have removed someone from a travel group entirely, and 65 per cent of parents are keen to travel without the kids.
5. Vibe Check(In)
Seventy-two per cent of Canadian travellers would choose a destination primarily based on how they want to feel rather than where they want to go, and 66 per cent would use a search tool that recommends places by mood. Gen Z is all in: 76 per cent would share wearable data and phone metrics with a travel provider to personalize a trip, compared with 28 per cent of boomers.
6. Sweat Synergy
Solo travel is getting a team upgrade. Half (51 per cent) of Canadians who have travelled alone say a shared physical challenge led to a lasting friendship, 44 per cent would join a community of like-minded athletes on the road, and 41 per cent of solo travellers are interested in travelling for a fitness or sporting event. The medal is a bonus. The group chat is the point.
7. Trip to the Beyond
Fifty-nine per cent of Canadian travellers are interested in experiences that confront the paranormal head-on. Forty per cent would seek an experience in the hope of speaking to someone on the “other side,” and 41 per cent are curious about experiences that explore questions of death, the afterlife or spirituality. Haunted histories, it seems, are the new sun and sand.
8. PTO: Powered by AI
Fifty-five per cent of Canadians say the last day of vacation is less enjoyable because they’re already thinking about work, and 37 per cent pack the laptop. Now, 51 per cent are interested in having AI cover their work while they’re away, a third would let it manage email and admin, and 36 per cent would ask it to catch them up on everything they missed.
9. Hotel in the Sky
The flight is becoming part of the holiday. Eighty-eight per cent of Canadian travellers would take a long-haul journey if it guaranteed they’d arrive rested. Top requests include menus or caffeine-timing guidance designed to support sleep (33 per cent), lighting to reduce jet lag (26 per cent) and skincare kits (17 per cent). Nearly a third (31 per cent) would choose a designated no-children quiet zone on board.