A recent global survey of travel advisors revealed the top luxury travel trends expected for 2017. Nearly 800 advisors from the Virtuoso travel network participated in the study and pointed to a growing interest in destinations that are either environmentally fragile or experiencing rapid change. This trend aligns with the United Nations’ designation of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism and reflects a broader appetite for meaningful travel to developing regions.
Respondents identified Iceland, Cuba, the Great Barrier Reef, and the polar regions—the Arctic and Antarctic—as particularly desirable. These destinations attract luxury travelers because of their dramatic, evolving landscapes or, in Cuba’s case, a unique cultural atmosphere shaped by long-term isolation. When asked about motivations, advisors said clients most often seek authentic experiences and discovery, ranking these ahead of rest and relaxation or personal enrichment.
Other notable shifts include a tendency to plan high-end trips more than two years in advance, a stronger demand for bespoke and customizable itineraries, and an increase in interest in nontraditional family destinations such as Japan. Taken together, these trends suggest luxury travelers in 2017 are prioritizing distinctive, responsible, and highly personalized experiences over conventional leisure travel.