5 Biggest Trends Driving Caribbean and Latin America Travel for 2026

It’s an exciting time for tourism to the Caribbean and Latin America – CALA, for short – as many emerging travel trends bend in the region’s favor. 

Many travelers are seeking unique experiences in new places, and hotels, airlines, and travel agencies are responding to meet this shifting demand. Before the 2025 holiday season kicks off, Marriott CALA hosted a panel discussion with industry partners about the trends they expect will define travel to dozens of CALA’s most popular destinations in 2026. 

From the booming all-inclusive sector to the impact of social media and eveything in between, here are the trends that travel advisors should keep top of mind when selling CALA in the new year. 

Authentic All-Inclusive Experiences 

Marriott executives have described the company as being “all in on all-inclusive,” but what exactly does that mean? Martin Castano, VP of sales and distribution for Mariott CALA, explained Marriott’s vision for growth in the ever-popular sector. 

In the past, all-inclusive resorts have operated in “a closed bubble,” Castano said, and it’s time to push out of that bubble. Travelers are seeking the ease and comfort of an all-inclusive resort when they visit a country in CALA. Yet at the same time, they want authenticity – to feel like they are experiencing the destination they are visiting. 

“What we are trying to do is to mingle a little bit and include off-site excursions so that people can not only experience the good things of an all-inclusive property, but also what the destination has to offer and the different experience that you can have while you’re staying in an all-inclusive,” he said. 

All-inclusive resorts not only present opportunities to engage people with new cultures, if that’s what they are seeking, but also offer a little something for all ages – both of which bode well for other trends on this list (new destinations and small groups). There are also new adult-only all-inclusive resorts coming online, such as the recently opened W Punta Cana.

Visiting New Destinations 

People are becoming keener to visit countries they’ve never been to before, and CALA has a wide variety of destinations to deliver on that, as well. Industry leaders from United Airlines and AeroMexico said they’ve been listening to customers and adding more and new service to destinations that weren’t as popular in the past. 

United Airlines recently launched new flights to Dominica, for example, an emerging Caribbean destination for North American travelers. The airline is also increasing airlift to San Jose, Costa Rica, and Santiago, Chile.  

“We’re continuing to find those unique hidden gems that, especially younger travelers, seem to crave going somewhere off the beaten path,” said Tom Kozlowski, senior manager of Latin and Hawaii network planning for United Airlines. 

For AeroMexico, it means new routes to places like Guadalajara and Oaxaca – but it also means trying to catch up by increasing connectivity into other parts of South and Central America so that travelers can have more multi-destination options between Mexico and other countries.  

Ivan Vukovis, sales director for USA at AeroMexico, called this a “long-haul proposition,” but something that is certainly in the works with new routes to Colombia, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. 

“Airlift has not always been as seamless as it can be, so that’s really something we’re taking care of trying to harmonize a little bit better with where the demand is coming from, especially on some of the higher end markets in terms of the Caribbean and Central America,” he said. 

Strong Social Media Influence 

When choosing what destinations to offer – and then, promoting those destinations – social media comes into play in a big way. Suppliers are looking to influencers more and more nowadays to get the word out about new product. 

“In the past year and a half, when we launched about close to 30 new routes, every one of our openings had a bit of an influencer presence in a different sort of way,” Vukovis said. “We feel that, as a smaller player within the United States, obviously, compared to the legacy carriers that are based here, we want to show people the real value of what we have as a product.” 

There’s a delicate line to toe when working with influencers, though, especially when marketing to luxury travelers. Miles McMullin, managing partner of Skylark Travel, said that higher-end clients bring their refined eye not just to their trips but to the social media they consume, as well 

“Authenticity is so important,” he said, “and so, we’re starting to see that when it feels like it’s just like a paid post of an influencer going somewhere, people can sniff that out pretty fast.” 

Alternatively, many high-net-worth folks seek places like Reddit threads and private WhatsApp groups for travel inspiration. They don’t want what’s mass marketed, but rather, to feel like they’re getting more personalized recommendations, which is where travel advisors can take advantage. 

“We really see people doubling down on the human aspect when it comes to the luxury travel side. Advisors that know how people travel are still super important in the luxury space. A lot of advisors have started posting a lot on their own Instagrams,” he said. “It’s less mass market in terms of the influencers that have 2 or 3 million followers, but a little bit more micro of maybe 10 to 15 thousand and someone you really trust. It’s become a little more curated.” 

Events-Driven Travel 

If 2025 taught the CALA tourism industry anything, it’s that events have the power to bring in the people. Industry leaders are hoping to drive this momentum of traveling for events and unique experiences into the new year. 

“Honestly, I never thought I was going to look at when Bad Bunny is playing,” Castano said, “but the sports and entertainment is something that has been very strong.” 

Travel to Puerto Rico boomed this year because of rap star Bad Bunny’s two-month residency in the country. Now, CALA is looking to more big stars, events, and festivals to continue riding that wave, especially with the World Cup being hosted in North America in 2026. 

Kozlowski agreed that events, such as Caribbean Carnivals and the World Creole Festival in Dominica, have boosted passenger counts. 

“That’s somewhere we started flying to earlier this year, and added more service for that festival, and have seen really good results as travelers seek our unique experiences,” he said. 

Small Group Bookings on the Rise 

Another newer trend that isn’t going away in 2026 is multi-generational family trips, where grandparents, children, and their grandchildren all travel together. In addition, skip-generation trips, which include only grandparents and grandchildren, are still popular. 

The CALA region’s all-inclusive resort models and residence models both cater well to this growing segment, Castano said, because they offer activities for all ages and comforts of home, all in a central location where families can spend time together and have time on their own. 

Beyond families, other small group bookings include groups of friends and corporate meetings. The travel experts agreed that CALA destinations are more than just places for couples to escape but are now seen as opportunities for a variety of trip types. 

“We’re seeing a lot of those new small groups coming into our destinations in Latin America,” Castano said, noting that Marriott’s Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties lend themselves well to different kinds of groups. 

“We see insane spend on some of these trips of hundreds of thousands of dollars to really celebrate a landmark birthday or something like that,” McMullin agreed. “It’s definitely one of the fastest growing segments – those larger social groups.”