DUBLIN, Nov. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Travel is changing, and not simply because people are going abroad more often; as travellers, we are rethinking where we go, how we plan our journeys and what we expect along the way. What was considered a luxury just a few years ago is now a must-have, while things we could hardly have imagined have become part of everyday life. Think back to when finding a taxi in an unfamiliar city meant having to call for one, something most travellers would hardly think of doing today.
To understand these changes and how travel continues to evolve, Holafly has launched the second edition of its Global eSIM & Travel Report 2026–2027, bringing together the experiences and expectations of 5,220 international travellers across 13 countries to explore the forces shaping travel today and tomorrow.
The report looks at how people travelled in 2026, where they are planning to go in 2027 and how technology and sustainability are influencing their decisions. It also explores the evolution of business travel and how travel eSIMs are changing the way we use our phones abroad. Rather than focusing on a single trend, it brings these perspectives together to understand what travellers increasingly expect from their journeys.
One of the clearest findings is that the appetite for international travel remains strong, with 49% of respondents travelling more frequently than they did two years ago and 75% expecting to take at least two international trips in 2027, up from 67% last year. Travellers are also becoming more independent, with solo travel rising from 20% to 24% over the past year.
The way travellers access the internet abroad is changing rapidly, with 29% of respondents now using eSIMs as their main way of accessing mobile data abroad, up from 17% in 2025, while 44% frequently use AI to plan their trips, an increase of 13 percentage points. What once felt like an added convenience is now becoming something travellers expect to have at their fingertips.
“The interesting thing about travel is how quickly our expectations change. A few years ago, managing almost everything from your phone felt like a convenience; today, we simply expect it to work, wherever we are. What matters is not the technology itself, but what it allows people to do. This report helps us understand how those everyday changes are transforming the way we experience the world,” said Alfonso Mata, Head of Strategy at Holafly.
The Holafly Global eSIM & Travel Report 2026–2027 offers a broader picture of an industry evolving alongside its travellers. While the desire to discover new places remains much the same, how we plan, experience and think about our journeys continues to change.
Media contact: press@holafly.com
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