Emerging Travel Group booking trends: Europe and the US are trending destinations to watch in 2026
Emerging Travel Group (ETG), a global travel company operating the RateHawk, ZenHotels, and Roundtrip brands, reports the most popular destinations for 2025 booked across its platforms. According to ETG, Italy has become the most popular country, followed by the United States, Spain, Germany, and Turkey.
Individual tourists choosing their trips through ZenHotels most frequently opted for the United States, Turkey, and Spain as their destinations for leisure holidays. Travel agents working with RateHawk more often arranged trips for their clients to Italy, the United States, and Spain. Similarly, the United States and Italy were also among the top choices for corporate clients booking business trips via the Roundtrip platform, with Germany completing the top three.
Commenting on this, Simone Large, Head of Direct Supply at Emerging Travel Group, highlighted: "As expected, last year, travelers preferred a variety of leisure experiences, choosing both beach holidays and city breaks. In Turkey, the most popular choices were Antalya for seaside vacations and Istanbul and Ankara for city vacations. In Spain, travelers booked Barcelona and Alicante for beach holidays and Madrid for cultural trips. In the United States, the most popular destinations were urban New York, as well as Orlando and Las Vegas, known for their entertainment activities.”
Simone Large added: "This year, we are seeing a significant increase in demand for both Italy and the United States among travel agents, likely driven by major 2026 events in the countries, such as the Winter Olympic Games in Italy and the football championship in the USA. Bookings during the events are already up 13% in Italy and 14% in the USA compared to last year. Trips like these are often easier to plan with the help of travel professionals, helping with the complexities of trip organizing. Also, as our data show European countries and the US remain key business travel destinations, which is reflected in their ongoing popularity among our corporate clients."
In terms of spending patterns, travelers pay the highest nightly rates for trips to Italy with an average daily rate (ADR) of $260. The United States follows closely with an ADR of $235, while Spain stands at $243,Turkey at $224, and Germany at $166.
As for accommodation preferences, the majority of tourists opted for 4-star and 5-star hotels, accounting for 51% of all bookings in Italy, 49% in Spain, 47% in Turkey, 33% in the USA, and 35% in Germany.