Leading UK travel association ABTA has revealed its 2020 travel trends report, featuring the top 12 holiday destinations to watch.

Listed in alphabetical order, the destinations include:

• Basilicata (southern Italy)
• Chicago and Lake Michigan (USA)
• Georgia (Europe)
• Grenada (West Indies)
• Madrid and its surrounding cities (Spain)
• Morocco (North Africa)
• Namibia (southern Africa)
• South Korea (Asia)
• Singapore (southeast Asia)
• The Netherlands (Europe)
• Uruguay (South America)
• Vienna (Austria)

Along with releasing the 12 destinations to watch, ABTA’s report – which is based on market information and consumer insights – also revealed the key travel trends that we can expect in 2020 and beyond.

Despite the current political context, ABTA research has shown how consumer sentiment is still positive when it comes to holiday-taking.

ABTA’s chief executive, Mark Tanzer, commented:

“With so many political uncertainties ahead, such as the shape of the new government and the outcome of the Brexit process, it is difficult to predict with certainty what 2020 will bring – however, we do know that travel is still a spending priority for the year ahead.”

Speaking at the official press event last night (26 November 2019), Helen Coop, head of PR at Four Travel, also noted how “people’s levels of concern over Brexit since July 2016 is at its lowest”, therefore indicating “how we are all getting a little tired and fatigued of Brexit”.

The report highlights the increasing demand for slow travel, with holidaymakers choosing to “slow down the tempo” and spend more time in one destination, thereby reducing their journey footprint.

As Coop remarked: “In this increasingly frenetic world where we are overloaded with information and options, people are increasingly looking for slow travel and to immerse themselves in the destination.”

Sustainability is set to be a huge focus among travellers in 2020, with children driving this trend. “Sustainability is now a requirement and children are pushing the agenda,” commented Coop.

Europe still tops the list of places people intend to travel to in the next 12 months, with almost two-thirds of people (57 per cent) planning to visit.

Closer to home, following a record-breaking number of overnight trips from January to July 2019, domestic holidays are expected to perform well once more in the year ahead.

Package holidays – which performed strongly in 2019 – also looks set to maintain their appeal in 2020, with value for money expected to be one of the main motivators for opting for this type of holiday.

The demand for digital customer service is also on the rise, with holidaymakers seeking a variety of ways to get support during the online booking process.

Travel companies TUI, Hays Travel and Travel Counsellors are among those already adopting a multi-channel approach to personalise their service for customers.

These include building specialist social media customer service teams, announcing multi-million pound technology upgrades and speaking directly to them via messenger apps.

For more information, visit abta.com.