REPORT from ISTANBUL – MarketHub Europe, by HBX Group, shared key insights into current travel trends and market growth during its inaugural day, celebrated this week in Istanbul with the title “New Frontiers”.

Through different keynotes and round tables, the senior leaders of the group and representatives of tourism, technology and innovation companies, reflected on the challenges facing the sector, the need to balance technological advances with sustainability and ethical considerations, as well as the potential of technology to improve the travel experience and create new business opportunities. Key highlights were also provided on the constant evolution of travellers’ habits, with a special focus on European and Middle Eastern destinations.

Carlos Muñoz, Chief Commercial Officer of HBX Group, highlighted the increasingly important role of Gen Z and their consumer habits in defining travel trends: “With a clear focus on last-minute bookings and a preference for package tours, Generation Z is already reshaping the way the industry operates. In addition, their high awareness of sustainability clearly shapes their travel choices.”

HBX Group has registered a 25% increase in searches on its platforms, now totalling 5.6 billion per day. Globally, Europe remains one of the leading inbound and outbound markets, while the Middle East continues to grow.

Travel trends

Globally, the United States and Spain stand out as two of the main traveller receptors and London, Paris, New York, Dubai and Barcelona are the cities experiencing the highest demand. Although all regions have experienced growth in their bookings compared to 2023, China and Japan stand out notably.

• Europe: consolidates its position as a destination after the continent achieved an increase of more than 60% in bookings as a destination compared to 2019. Spain and Italy are two of the most popular countries, with most travellers choosing Europe arriving from United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Spain.

London, Paris and Rome continue to be the favourite cities and the average stay is 3 nights, with a growing trend of 1-to-3-day bookings. Among the fastest growing destinations are the Balearic and Canary Islands.

• Middle East: the relevance of last-minute bookings. Markets such as the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and France continue to be key outbound markets for tourism to the Last-minute bookings are crucial in this market, where they account for more than 40% of the total.

The average stay is around 3 nights, and Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Mecca are among the most popular destinations. Among the top ten favourites, Doha shows up as one of the fastest growing options.

• Türkiye: Regaining its position as an issuing Antalya and Istanbul are the most popular destinations in Türkiye. According to data from HBX Group, in addition to domestic tourism, the main source market for Türkiye is the Middle East and, from Europe, Germany is particularly strong.

Bookings made by travellers from Türkiye have grown by more than 50% compared to 2019 and already exceed the bookings recorded last year. Among the most popular choices are domestic destinations, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and France in Europe, as well as the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East.

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

Air New Zealand this week received 500,000 liters of sustainable aviation fuel manufactured by Chinese firm EcoCeres to its home country’s capital city of Wellington, the carrier announced Wednesday.

The SAF, which was blended by ExxonMobil, was made from used cooking oil and will be added to the carrier’s New Zealand-based fuel supply for its ATR aircraft, according to the airline. 

Air New Zealand earlier this year ordered 9 million liters of SAF from producer Neste. 

“We’ve seen increased international momentum around SAF in the past few months, with airlines, governments, airports, and fuel companies all getting on board with alternative fuels at pace,” Air New Zealand chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Kiri Hannifin said in a statement.