Data from global luxury and experiential travel agency Virtuoso strongly indicates that customers are travelling later in the year and booking further ahead.
The company, which has more than 30 members in the UK – employing 600 travel advisors, and 1,200 members worldwide, said bookings for September are up 55%, for October they’re up 59%, and for November they’re up by more than 70%.
Virtuoso said its ‘pacing data suggests September could outsell August this year.’
The shift is being seen most clearly in Europe, it said, adding that September sales are rising three times faster than those for August. By September 2025, they were only eight percentage points lower than for August.
The agency said customers were choosing to travel in autumn for what the season offers, rather than for price savings, adding that the ‘shouder season has officially shed its bargain reputation’.
The rate of growth has been sharpest along the French Riviera – up 179% – followed by Puglia in Italy (+78%), with the Greek Isles up more than 130%.
“The coolcation has become the ‘fallcation’ and the festive season is following the same arc, with bookings up 65%,” it said.
Amongst other trends revealed by Virtuoso at its 38th annual Travel Week in Las Vegas was a rise in the number of bookings further into the future. Its sales for one and two years out are up 50%, with lead times increasing in line with the cost of the booking.
Customers also appear to be increasingly confident spenders, with booking in excess of $50,000 up 47% – with cruise bookings at that level up 49% – and bookings of at least $100,000 up 49%.
Virtuoso’s advisors also report a rise in requests for ultra-luxury travel, from hotels-within-hotels to private members’ clubs with rooms.
UK and Ireland are booming
Virtuoso is on course for more than a 20% increase in sales this year, with every source market up. The UK and Ireland have seen growth of 26%, behind China’s rise of 34% but ahead of the Middle East and Africa (24%), continental Europe (23%) and the US (21%).
Growth is concentrated at the top of the market, it said, with bookings at hotels charging $1,500-plus a night increasing 37% and growing at more than twice the rate of lower-priced properties.
City-maxxing
Customers are increasingly stringing together multiple destinations into a single, longer trip (often crossing borders) – a trend that Virtuoso has termed ‘city-maxxing’. France and Italy are the most common pairing, followed by France and the UK, then Italy and Switzerland.
Such itineraries are built around private flights, it said, and demand is skewing younger. “Advisors report millennials leading private aviation requests, running 6% ahead of the global average,” it added.
“The wealth behind that demand keeps expanding: according to Knight Frank, [a global property consultancy] 89 people cross the ultra-high-net-worth threshold every day, and the global population worth $30 million or more has reached 713,626, up 29% since 2021,” it said.
Wellness is the new necessity
Wellness is no longer an amenity, it has become part of the itinerary, added Virtuoso. Bookings for wellness hotels are up 28% and the average daily rate has risen 23%.
“The category now spans sleep optimisation, metabolic health and mental-health retreats, with longevity tourism the breakout segment, pairing medical diagnostics with five-star hospitality.
“Advisors describe three distinct wellness travellers: the performance optimiser, who wants data and measurable outcomes; the restoration seeker, who wants stillness, nature and a digital detox; and the meaning seeker, drawn to mindfulness and retreats built around a life transition.”
Where demand is building
In a survey in July of nearly 800 advisors across the world, Virtuoso found the biggest increase in requests was for multigenerational and family holidays, then cities, followed by premium and luxury ocean cruising and celebration travel.
Baby boomers are driving demand for cruises, while millennials are leaning towards beach holidays and new luxury products and experiences.
Some 60% are prioritising bucket-list trips, 42% are booking further ahead and 30% are taking fewer but longer, higher-quality trips.
“Luxury travel continues to evolve as travellers look beyond where they go and toward how they want to feel when they get there,” said Virtuoso. “What they seek is a deeper sense of well-being, longevity and the freedom to travel on their own terms.”
