Key takeaways
- Bookings at hotels charging $1,500-plus a night rose 37 percent, more than double the growth rate at lower-priced luxury properties
- Fall has overtaken summer as peak booking season, with September sales up 77 percent and November up more than 70 percent
- Europe is capturing much of the surge, led by triple-digit rate increases on the French Riviera and in the Greek Isles
The gap between ordinary luxury travel and the very top of the market is widening. Bookings at hotels charging $1,500 or more a night climbed 37 percent this year, more than double the pace of growth at lower-priced luxury properties, according to data Virtuoso, a global network of luxury travel advisors, presented at its annual Travel Week gathering in Las Vegas on Aug. 10. The event drew 4,800 attendees from 105 countries, according to trade coverage of the gathering.
The figures, drawn from bookings made through Virtuoso’s advisor network, point to a market where spending is concentrating at the top end while shifting toward a season that once ranked as an afterthought: fall.
A Market Growing Fastest at the Top
The average nightly rate at luxury international hotels booked through Virtuoso has climbed from $985 in 2019 to $1,653 in 2026. In the United States, the comparable rate rose from $790 to $1,445 over the same period. Virtuoso’s overall network sales are on pace to finish 2026 roughly 21 percent ahead of 2025. The network is made up of more than 1,200 travel-agency locations and more than 20,000 advisors across 58 countries, with normalized annual sales of about $35 billion, according to the company.
Growth varied by region. Growth in Greater China led all regions at 34 percent, followed by the United Kingdom and Ireland at 26 percent, the Middle East and Africa at 24 percent, Continental Europe at 23 percent and the United States at 21 percent, according to the data presented at Travel Week. Growth also varied by supplier type: hotels led at 25 percent, the fastest category, followed by cruise lines at 22 percent, on-site tour partners at 18 percent and tour operators at 11 percent.
Misty Belles, Virtuoso’s vice president of global public relations, put the rate increase bluntly at the presentation. “If you feel like you are paying double what you were in 2019 to stay at a nice hotel, you’re not wrong. That is exactly what’s happening,” she said, according to PAX News.
The Seven-Year Rate Climb
The average nightly rate at international luxury hotels booked through Virtuoso rose from $985 in 2019 to $1,653 in 2026, a 68 percent increase over seven years.
Fall Overtakes Summer as Peak Season
Fall 2026 bookings through Virtuoso are up 59 percent and sales are up 69 percent compared with the prior year. September alone saw sales rise 77 percent and bookings rise 55 percent. October bookings are up 59 percent, and both bookings and sales for November are up more than 70 percent.
September booking volume in Europe has crept closer to August’s, rising from 79 percent of August levels in 2023 to 92 percent in 2025. Trade coverage of the data attributed the shift to cooler temperatures, smaller crowds and, for travelers without school-age children, greater scheduling flexibility.
Trade publications covering the figures have taken to calling the shift “fallcations.” September hotel bookings in Europe are now growing nearly three times faster than August bookings, per the data presented at Travel Week.
Europe Draws the Largest Share of Demand
Fall bookings to Europe are up 49 percent and sales are up 64 percent even as hotel rates on the continent rose more than 7 percent. Year-to-date sales at Virtuoso’s preferred European hotels were up 39 percent through June. Globally, Paris, the Amalfi Coast, the French Riviera, Tuscany, New York and London ranked among the top fall destinations named in the data, and the United States, Italy, France, Mexico and Japan were the top five countries for fall travel.
Rate increases were sharpest in a handful of European spots: the French Riviera was up 179 percent, Puglia was up 78 percent, and the Greek Isles rose more than 130 percent.
Who Is Booking the Priciest Rooms
The surge at the top of the market coincides with rapid growth in the world’s ultra-wealthy population. The number of people worth $30 million or more globally reached 713,626, up 29 percent since 2021, with 89 people crossing that threshold every day, according to Knight Frank data cited in coverage of Virtuoso’s presentation.
A separate July survey of nearly 800 Virtuoso advisors found strong demand for specific trip types: 69 percent cited rising interest in multigenerational family travel, 63 percent in premium and luxury ocean cruising, and 60 percent in celebration trips. Baby boomers drove much of the cruise demand, with 76 percent of advisors citing interest in ocean voyages and 68 percent in river cruises, while millennials leaned toward beach escapes and new luxury products and experiences.
Advisors also described shifting booking habits among affluent clients: 60 percent are prioritizing bucket-list trips, 42 percent are booking further ahead to secure preferred options, and 30 percent are taking fewer, longer and higher-quality trips rather than several shorter ones. Just over half of luxury travelers, 54 percent, said they would rather spend on experiences and guided tours than on hotel-room upgrades or dining.
Bookings at hotels charging $1,500 or more a night climbed 37 percent this year, more than double the pace of growth at lower-priced luxury properties.
Travelers Are Stringing Destinations Together
Virtuoso’s data also points to longer, more complex itineraries. Advisors described a pattern of travelers combining multiple cities and countries into a single trip, with roughly half of these multicity itineraries crossing an international border.
France paired with Italy was the most common combination, followed by France paired with the United Kingdom and Italy paired with Switzerland. Italy featured in roughly two of every five multicity routings identified in the data.
Booking Earlier, Committing More Upfront
Global leisure sales for trips booked one to two years in advance are up roughly 50 percent, and bookings valued at $50,000 or more rose 47 percent. Wellness-oriented hotel bookings climbed 28 percent, with sales up 44 percent and daily rates up 23 percent.
Those figures suggest travelers in the top tier of the market are locking in trips further ahead of departure and paying more per booking than in prior years.
Advisors also pointed to rising interest in wellness travel beyond hotel stays, including Ayurvedic retreats, yoga-and-surf escapes and silent retreats aimed at multigenerational family groups, according to Virtuoso’s 2026 Luxe Report.
Advisors Expect the Trend to Continue
A separate Virtuoso survey of more than 2,400 travel advisors worldwide, published as the company’s 2026 Luxe Report, found 67 percent expecting at least a slight increase in travel demand and 55 percent expecting clients to spend more per trip; 28 percent expected spending to hold steady.
The same survey found 45 percent of advisors reporting that clients were adjusting travel plans because of climate considerations — 76 percent of those advisors said clients shifted toward shoulder-season travel, 75 percent said clients favored destinations with milder weather, and 43 percent said clients were buying travel insurance specifically to cover climate-related disruptions. Forty-five percent of advisors also reported a rise in requests for what Virtuoso categorizes as “ultraluxe” travel, which advisors defined as trips in which every detail — private transfers, Michelin-level dining, full resort buyouts with personal chefs, wellness experts and guides — is seamlessly included.
Photo: Olivier Cleynen · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
