Is revenge travel the new post-Covid trend?
The practice of 'revenge travel' has emerged as tourists compensate for lost trips during the pandemic by booking long-overdue and extravagant vacations, often at short notice.
As travel restrictions were lifted around the globe following the COVID-19 pandemic, the phrase "revenge travel" entered the lexicon. It describes how, after years of curtailed freedom to move, people opt for more frequent or extravagant trips than they might normally have considered—turning a desire for freedom into bustling tourism.
A travel trend known as revenge travel is marked by a marked surge in tourism activity after periods of restricted travel, usually triggered by events such as pandemics, economic crises or conflicts. Typically, those who spent months or years unable to travel in any meaningful way seize the opportunity to book overdue trips, often opting for longer holidays, deluxe accommodation or bucket-list destinations at the first chance they get. Strong emotions drive the trend: a mixture of celebration at regained mobility and a wish to ‘make up for lost time’ are commonly cited reasons.
Revenge travel can take many forms—spontaneous bookings, extended stays, group tours or pilgrimages to the hottest beach resorts and city-break hot spots. For the industry, the phenomenon delivers a sharp uplift in demand for certain destinations and a corresponding boost for travel-related businesses.
Gemma Antrobus, chair of the UK’s Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) and owner of Haslemere Travel, comments: “For me, it neatly sums up so many travellers’ fierce determination to move beyond what the virus took from us and simply get back out there once restrictions began to ease.”
For today’s revenge traveller, the focus is on memorable experiences: ticking off bucket-list wonders, swapping Zoom calls for face-to-face meetings with loved ones, and trading virtual connections for real-world adventures—whether that’s a safari in Africa or an extended road trip across America.