New Year's Eve destinations? Bangkok and Tokyo are in the lead, but Paris and London remain attractive.

The Christmas holidays are now upon us, and many are finalizing their New Year's travel plans, but some are already searching for the "right" destination for next year. A glimpse into the trends that will shape tourist flows in the coming months comes from the report "A Year in Travel 2025" produced by eDreams Odigeo, which provides an overview of bookings and searches already made for travel in 2026 and a snapshot of those that have characterized the current year. Looking at the preferences expressed by Italians, the outlook is quite clear: travel choices (75% use artificial intelligence tools to plan their trips) favor foreign destinations, adding several long-haul destinations to the classic European metropolises.

Bangkok, Thailand.

Italian travelers are eager to embark on distant horizons, as evidenced by the fact that the top 10 of trips already booked are to international cities. The desire to venture beyond the Old Continent is also clearly evident in travel searches for next year: New York, Tokyo, and Bangkok top the list (ahead of Paris and London), with Malé (Maldives) and Sharm el-Sheikh also making the top ten. Destinations such as Istanbul and Tenerife remain popular, along with classic European capitals such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, ​​and Madrid.

Male, Maldives.

Travel choices over the next year will also be driven by a passion for major events, primarily sporting competitions and music festivals, which are already driving the rush to book flights and accommodations and searches for the ideal destination. In Italy, the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics have sparked interest in the Lombardy capital, with a 24% increase in flight searches for the event period, while the Men's FIFA World Cup, scheduled for next July in North America, is fueling eDreams searches for the host cities of Mexico (up 15%) and Canada (14%). No less impactful on travel trends is the allure of major cultural events, which will continue to draw crowds from around the world in 2026. The most important events on the calendar are in February and involve South America and the Far East: the Sapporo Snow Festival, which has generated a 12% increase in searches for Japan, and the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, which is driving a 7% increase in interactions in Brazil's most iconic destination. Music will also be a major player in the new year's tourist itineraries: the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, scheduled for May in Vienna, has already boosted searches for the Austrian capital (a 166% increase), while The Weeknd's highly anticipated world tour is set to draw huge crowds across Europe, with travel requests booming for the dates in Amsterdam and Milan (July 24-26).

Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Looking at the most popular destinations for Italians in 2025, European art cities remain a firm favorite, with the ever-popular Ibiza and Tenerife, while the most popular domestic destinations were Catania and Olbia. The strongest growth in bookings by Italian travelers confirms their love for eastern seaside destinations: Marsa Alam tops this special ranking with a 101% increase in bookings in 2025, ahead of Sharm el-Sheikh and Larnaca.

Verona, Italy.

Returning to Italy, Verona is the fastest-growing city in terms of interest shown by Italian travelers (ranking fourth overall in the top 10), while Cagliari (seventh) and Venice (tenth) also achieved excellent results. In terms of length of stay, this year 36% of travelers stayed in their holiday destination for 3-4 days, 22% for a week to 13 days, and 15% for 5-6 days. More than half of Italians (51% to be precise) booked no more than a month before departure, 21% for one to two months before departure, and only 12% booked their travel dates two to three months in advance.