Asian cities, off the beaten path in Europe

When it comes to travel abroad, popular destinations like London, Paris and Rome always seem to top the wish list for Americans.

But many travelers are looking beyond those mainstay cities for trips in 2024. Interest in major Asian hubs, off-the-beaten-path locales in Europe and other areas has surged, experts said.

“It’s clear that 2024 is shaping up to be the year of globetrotting,” Airbnb wrote last month.

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Broadly, overseas travel is hot: Searches for international flights are up 13% year-over-year, even though prices are about 10% higher, according to Steve Hafner, CEO of Kayak, a travel website.

“Americans are looking to go abroad,” Hafner said. “They’ve done the domestic stuff the last couple years.”

Here are the trending destinations for Americans in 2024.  

Americans flocked to the Asia-Pacific region in 2023 — and that love affair is poised to continue in the new year.

Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea, respectively rank as the No. 1 and 2 trending international hot spots next year among U.S.-based travelers, according to travel app Hopper.

Kayak data shows a similar trend. Its top five hot spots are in Asia: Hong Kong; Shanghai; Taipei City, the capital of Taiwan; Tokyo; and Osaka, Japan, respectively.

For example, searches for Hong Kong and Shanghai are up 355% and 216%, respectively, year-over-year, according to Kayak. (The travel site analyzed search traffic among Americans from March 16 to Sept. 15 this year, for travel planned in 2024, and compared it to the same period last year.)

Japan also ranks highly among non-U.S. travelers: Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo…