Beyond ’27: Travel

Travel

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WELCOME MICHAEL MILLER

insights and the actionable intelligence you need to navigate an ever-evolving market.

From Advocacy to Travel, through to Wellness, Sport and Finance, each specialised session is built for genuine collaboration. Our commitment is to work hand-in-hand with you, ensuring every interaction is efficient, effective, and delivers real outcomes.

This program embodies our dedication to being your trusted partner, helping you to not only meet but exceed your objectives in 2027, and beyond.

We look forward to helping you build a future that produces real, measurable success.

WELCOME TO BEYOND‘27, WHERE WE GET REAL ABOUT THE FUTURE OF YOUR BUSINESS .

The premise behind Beyond‘27 is straightforward: we’re here to help you cut through the noise, get ahead of the curve and genuinely grow your business.

The reality is that the world is changing fast.

What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. We’re seeing incredible progress, but also a lot of uncertainty.

Beyond‘27 is about helping you find that sweet spot between bold innovation and practical application.

It’s about bringing together our unparalleled expertise and insights to engage in dynamic dialogues that directly address your most pressing needs. We believe in leading upfront, giving you real

Michael Miller Executive Chairman, News Corp Australasia

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Travel

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CONTENTS TRAVEL

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Introduction Travel

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Headwinds to navigate Early visible proof points

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Enduring needs Escape, Discovery, Connection, Status and Reassurance

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Tailwinds to leverage Early visible proof points

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The wrap Beyond 2027

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BEYOND THE NOISE LEIGH LAVERY

shape decision-making across this category.

That is the central idea behind this whitepaper series. In travel, we explore the headwinds brands will need to navigate, the tailwinds they can use to grow, and the enduring human needs that give those shifts meaning.

Our belief is simple: the brands best placed to grow will be the ones that can read both the changing world around people, and the enduring needs within them.

We’re excited to share these insights with you. We hope they serve as a practical guide as you build for sustainable growth through 2027 and beyond.

INTRODUCING THE GROWTH DISTILLERY.

At The Growth Distillery, we exist to help businesses understand people more deeply, and make better decisions because of it. Our role is to decode the forces shaping consumer behaviour, separate the signals that matter from the noise and turn that understanding into opportunity.

That task has never felt more urgent. The world is changing quickly.

Technology is reshaping how people discover, compare and choose travel. AI is accelerating access and expectation. Instability, price pressure and synthetic content are changing the conditions in which brands compete.

And yet, beneath all of that change, something important remains stable: what people fundamentally want. The tools, platforms and behaviours may evolve, but enduring human needs do not move nearly as quickly. The desire to escape, discover, connect, feel reassured and experience something that feels special continues to

Leigh Lavery, General Manager, The Growth Distillery

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Travel For decades, travel marketing relied on a simple equation: make the destination look desirable and remove friction from booking, then demand would follow. The destination was the product. Aspiration was the ad. That formula worked when travel felt expansive, affordable and emotionally straightforward.

Consumers are not necessarily afraid to travel; they are afraid to be wrong.

Beyond 2027, the travel category will be won by brands that can turn instability into confidence and inspiration into reassurance.

Beyond 2027, that model is likely to weaken as consumers face a more consistent backdrop of instability, confidence is challenged, and AI reshapes how trips are discovered and chosen. In a permacrisis world, travel is shaped by confidence as much as desire.

According to Booking.com's Global AI Sentiment Report, 89% of global consumers want AI in their travel plans, with price monitoring (44%), scam detection (39%) and review summarisation (39%) leading the wishlist.

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Headwinds to navigate

6 in 10 adults have changed travel plans in response to fuel pressures.

PRE DI CTE D H E ADWIND #1 Beyond 2027, trust in the travel category will plummet as synthetic content soars.

Travel is moving into a future where instability feels less like an interruption and more like a permanent backdrop. Geopolitical conflict, price volatility and economic uncertainty are no longer occasional disruptions; they're becoming a part of the conditions travellers expect to navigate. These factors are widening the gap between the desire to travel and the confidence to commit. Booking a trip has become a higher-stakes decision requiring more careful consideration beyond 2027.

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Early proof points already visible

Caution is already visible in behaviour.

Deloitte's 2026 Travel Industry Outlook found consumers taking fewer trips, shortening stays and trading down on accommodation. Crucially, Deloitte identifies a growing “cautious class” among higher-income travellers.

Risk is also reshaping planning and decisions. In Australia, nearly 6 in 10 (59%) adults have changed their travel plans in response to fuel pressures, including choosing closer destinations and changing their mode of transport (YouGov 2026).

These are early signs of a travel market that is likely to become more cautious, divided and harder to convert at scale. As instability persists, confidence is likely to become more valuable and harder to win.

Travellers are already looking for more confidence at the point of decision.

Accenture found that 75% of travellers wish they could make the right travel decision more quickly, easily and confidently.

At the same time, the market is splitting in two. At the top, ultra-luxury remains resilient, insulated from economic concern and uncertainty. At the other end, financially pressured consumers are becoming more selective and more price sensitive. The result is a K-shaped market, where the wealthy keep spending while the broad middle becomes more cautious, harder to convert and easier to lose.

Beyond 2027, this is expected to become a permanent confidence crisis, especially for everyday cost-conscious travellers.

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Headwinds to navigate

49% of Australian travellers have used AI for trip planning.

PRE DI CTE D H E A DWIND #2 AI will compress the funnel and flatten brands that rely too heavily on late-funnel performance.

The second shift is happening in discovery. AI is rapidly changing how people research, compare and choose trips. As consumers outsource planning to AI tools, the traditional travel funnel is compressing. Discovery, comparison and shortlisting are beginning to happen inside a single interface, often before a brand has any chance to shape consideration.

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Early proof points already visible AI is already becoming the new discovery layer. 49% of Australians have already used AI for ideas and assistance when trip planning, with 64% saying they plan to use it in the future (The Growth Distillery x Lighthouse travel update April 2026).

begins. In an AI-shaped market, showing up late is no longer enough.

These are early signs of a category where the traditional mid-funnel is likely to hollow out.

Brands that continue to rely on short-term, performance-heavy capture will become easier for AI to write out before the booking phase even begins.

AI also risks flattening brand and destination distinctiveness. A 2026 study (Journal of Tourism Management) found that AI tools repeatedly generate similar itineraries based on averaged data, making it easier for unique destinations and travel propositions to blur into one another.

Yet much of the industry is still spending in the wrong places. PhocusWire reports that 64% of travel operators plan to aggressively increase AI and tech spend over the next 12 months, prioritising GEO and visibility over brand building and reputation management. At the same time, Gitnux reports that 72% of travel brands still allocate more than half their marketing budgets to paid search.

Beyond 2027, the risk is not just that AI becomes another planning tool. It is that the traditional mid-funnel disappears. If consumers rely on AI to research, compare and narrow options, then many brands will be filtered out

That is the contradiction at the heart of the category. Brands are doubling down on performance and visibility at the exact moment they need to be building memory, distinctiveness and demand before search

before they ever enter active consideration.

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Enduring needs Beneath these shifts sit a set of enduring human needs that are unlikely to change. In travel, needs such as escape, discovery, connection, status and reassurance are rooted in universal human truths. These motivations exist before any destination choice is made, and they will continue to shape demand long after platforms, prices and planning behaviours change.

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“The critical ingredient of escape was only that the vacation context should be physically and socially different from everyday life.”

Crompton (1979), Annals of Tourism Research, VI(4)

1 in 4 Australians say they choose international travel over domestic because they want experiences that feel totally different to life at home.

The Growth Distillery, Lighthouse Category Update: Travel, January 2026

The psychological urge to break free from the predictability of daily routine always happens before we pick a destination. While our definition of what counts as “away” changes, the internal feeling we chase comes first.

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“Travellers seek not just new places but new perspectives on themselves — exploration and evaluation of self is among the primary socio-psychological motivations for pleasure travel.”

Crompton (1979), Annals of Tourism Research, VI(4)

34% of Australians describe their ideal travel style as exploratory, driven by wonder and the desire to discover new places and perspectives.

The Growth Distillery, Lighthouse Category Update: Travel, March 2026

Travel is not only about seeing somewhere new. It is also a way people test, confirm and expand their identity. Human curiosity keeps renewing itself, which is why discovery remains a permanent driver.

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“Relatedness: The need to feel connected, understood, and cared for.

It represents the desire to belong and feel significant to others.”

Deci and Ryan (1985), Self Determination Theory

30% of Australian travellers describe their travel style as “connected,” seeking to deepen relationships and share meaningful moments.

The Growth Distillery, Lighthouse Category Update: Travel, March 2026

People do not just want to see a place. They want to feel part of something beyond themselves. That is why meaningful human connection remains one of travel’s deepest emotional rewards.

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“Just as a peacock's unwieldy tail signals superior genetics to potential mates, expensive travel signals vast disposable income and cultural capital.” de Boer, J. (2026) Costly signaling in human sciences

Travel is the

number one category for purchase consideration

over the next two years, for both current and aspiring luxury shoppers.

The Growth Distillery, Forces Shaping Luxury 2025

While we want to belong, we also have a powerful urge to feel uniquely distinct. The status dimension of travel may evolve away from conspicuous luxury and toward rarity, curation and insider access, but the underlying need to feel distinct will not disappear.

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“The safety needs manifest themselves as a preference for the familiar over the unfamiliar, the known over the unknown.”

Maslow (1943), Psychological Review

44% of Australian travellers say a safe and secure holiday is a top enabler of their travel decisions, the second most important factor after affordability.

The Growth Distillery, Lighthouse Category Update: Travel, March 2026

Uncertainty is an inherent aspect of travel; it involves large financial outlays, unfamiliar environments, logistical complexity and outcomes that cannot be fully controlled. That makes reassurance a constant need and, in a more unstable world, an increasingly important one.

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Tailwinds to leverage

There will be 1.04 million more Australians aged 55+ by 2030.

PRE DI CTE D TAI LWIND #1 The high-value 55+ travel audience will shift, and brands will need to seed emerging demand earlier.

Today’s 55+ audience has been relatively resilient through the permacrisis and remains a key segment for the category. But beyond 2027, as the audience grows, the pool of economically free consumers in this bracket is likely to shrink. Just as importantly, the next wave of 55+ travellers will be digitally native and increasingly AI-enabled in how they plan and book.

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Early proof points already visible There will be more 55+ Australians in the next five years. There will be 1.04 million more Australians aged 55+ by 2030, rising from 7.93 million in 2025 to 8.97 million by 2030 and making up nearly one in three Australians. (ABS)

connected under-55 demographic is actively ageing into this older segment. Today only 15% of over 55s say they have used AI for travel planning, compared to 52% of under 55s, with a further 65% saying they plan to in the future.

The 55+ traveller of the future will be very different from the one the category has historically relied on. The next wave entering this bracket is unlikely to resemble the carefree monolith the category once imagined. In Australia, the super balance needed for a comfortable retirement has risen to record highs, with homeowners now needing $630,000 for singles and $730,000 for couples at retirement (ASFA, 2026). At the same time in the next five years outright home ownership among 55+ falls to 62% (-4%), while those still paying a mortgage or renting rises to 42% (+4%).

This signals where the future 55+ traveller is heading: digitally confident, platform-shaped and increasingly comfortable outsourcing planning to machines. Eight-nine per cent of global consumers want AI in their future travel plans, with price monitoring (44%), scam detection (39%) and review summarisation (39%) leading the wishlist (Booking.com's Global AI Sentiment Report).

This points to a future cohort carrying more financial pressure later in life, often while supporting adult children, making them more selective, more valueconscious and less likely to book on pure aspiration alone.

In this increasingly AI dominated environment, brands will not win by simply showing up at the point of search. They will win by being

The next wave of older travellers will also be far more digitally influenced than the market assumes. The traditional view of the 55+ demographic as tech-averse is quickly becoming outdated because the highly

known, trusted and wanted long before the booking begins.

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Tailwinds to leverage

82% of travellers prefer advice from locals or people they've met over algorithmic recommendations.

PRE DI CTE D TA I LWIND #2 Provenance will become the primary strategy to overcome the confidence crisis.

While AI can summarise reviews, compare options and reduce cognitive load, it cannot deliver trust. Beyond 2027, real human experiences and the environments in which those stories appear will become more important confidence signals.

The trust crash is not here yet, but it is close enough to shape behaviour. People still trust human signals. That is exactly why provenance matters now.

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Early proof points already visible AI may be making planning easier, but it is not resolving the trust problem.

Booking.com's Global AI Sentiment Report found that while AI tools are reducing cognitive load, nearly a quarter of global consumers (23%) rarely or never trust information generated by it. The lack of a human touch also generates doubts with 35% finding AI impersonal. trust equation. Verified, human-led editorial and expert contexts do more than deliver reach; they provide an implicit co-sign that helps protect brand meaning from being flattened by automation.

That leaves a clear role for human reassurance. Lived experience, expert perspective and trusted storytelling become more valuable because they provide what machine-made summaries cannot: accountability, texture and emotional credibility.

Trusted travel editorial does more than inspire, it reinforces booking confidence.

During booking, confident travellers engage with travel content 120% more, and brands with a strong editorial presence are 1.8x more likely to be booked than those without (The Growth Distillery Signals of Intent Travel).

As algorithmic discovery becomes more pervasive, lived human perspective and stories become more valued. Roughly, 82% of travellers prefer advice from locals or people they've met over algorithmic recommendations. (Accor, 2026 Travel Trends). Two in three travellers still want a travel agent for at least some planning, and 1 in 4 are more likely to, because of AI (Lighthouse Travel Deep Dive 2026).

These are early signs of a travel market where

Environments are becoming the ultimate credibility signal. If consumers are increasingly wary of synthetic information and actively seeking human signals, then where a brand appears becomes part of the

provenance will become more powerful as AI scales.

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THE WRA P As trust becomes harder to win at the point of planning, credible human context will become more valuable and more influential.

Beyond 2027, the practices will keep shifting: ambient risk will create a confidence crisis, AI will reshape the journey, and audiences will continue to diversify. The result is a market where brands need to win earlier, reassure harder and build trust long before booking begins.

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