Small Groups, Big Growth: Latest Insights from TMR’s 2026 Land Tour Outlook
by Sarah Milner
Photo: Travel Market Report
The land tour segment isn’t just growing: it’s evolving.
Increasingly, clients want small group travel opportunities, are booking closer to departure, and are spending more. Europe continues to drive demand for the segment, and travel advisors expect to book more land tours in 2026 than in 2025, and most (4 out of 5) anticipate double-digit growth.
These are just some of the insights from Travel Market Report’s Outlook on Land Tours, 2026, which is now available. Based on input from over 600 travel advisors in the U.S. and Canada, the new report identifies the trends shaping the land tour segment, including the most in-demand destinations, booking behavior, and industry challenges.
Overwhelmingly, travel advisors agree that Europe continues to drive land tour bookings, with “bucket list” travel being the main motivator. While a comparable number of advisors in both the U.S. and Canada sold European land tours last year (86% versus 90%), there were some notable differences in what destinations travelers booked. For American travel advisors, domestic land tours were a popular option, coming in second place with 43% of advisors having booked U.S. travel. On the Canadian side, only 6% of advisors booked U.S. travel, and 24% booked domestic (Canada).
In terms of booking windows, clients are shifting away from planning far ahead. In the previous outlook, 72% of advisors had clients booking between six to 12 months prior to departure, and more than a quarter (26%) had clients booking more than one year out. In this outlook, these numbers dropped: two-thirds (66%) had clients booking six to 12 months before departure, and 22% had clients who booked more than a year in advance.
New for this year, TMR also looked at how AI technology is shaping travel trends in the land tour segment. Almost half of respondents (46%) stated that AI and new technology improved the booking and management tools they used, and over one-quarter (29%) said they used AI for itinerary customization. Still, AI adoption is relatively low: more than half (56%) said they don’t use any AI tools, and adoption rates for host/consortia- and supplier-provided AI tools were mainly in the single-digits. Travel Leaders Network’s TobyAI was the most popular of these tools, with 15% of respondents having used it.
TMR publishes its annual Outlook on Land Tours to help travel advisors better understand the segment, and to help land tour suppliers better understand travel advisors’ needs. The full report is available online for free, and can be found on the TMR Training & Resources page.
