Italy
The absolute, undisputed most popular destination for 2023 is Italy. And if you thought everyone went in 2022, buckle up.
Fulvio De Bonis, president and co-founder of Imago Artis Travel, says they’re bracing for “way more” business in the new year.
De Bonis puts Italy travel trends into three categories: people, nature and sports. Travelers want to meet interesting locals such as chefs or fishermen. They want see beautiful places by going foraging in the mountains near Lake Como, for example, or hitting the beach. And they want to have exciting sports experiences, maybe by catching a soccer game or touring a team’s training facilities.
Shayna Mizrahi, founder and CEO of Vive Voyage, says her clients are also highly interested in connecting with Italian culture through cooking classes, boat excursions and artisan workshops.
For private tour operator Access Italy, the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, Tuscany, Puglia and Sicily are clients’ most requested destinations. These classics are the most popular for Imago Artis as well, but De Bonis notes travelers want off-the-beaten path experiences within these well-known places. They don’t just want to go see Tuscany highlights; “there is a world outside of Florence,” De Bonis says, and travelers want to explore it.
Other European destinations trailing behind Italy next year (but still in hot pursuit) are Greece, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
Japan
As the last region in the world to reopen during the pandemic, East Asia is expected to have a banner year for tourism, with Japan poised to be the fan favorite.
While people want to go to the “Golden Triangle” — Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka — Mike Salvadore, a travel agent with Travel Leaders, recommends adding a stop to see Japan beyond its best-known cities, such as mountainous Sapporo in the north or beachy Okinawa in the south.
If you’d like to go during cherry blossom season, you may be out of luck. Jeffrey M. Krevitt, vice president of marketing for Inside Travel Group, which owns InsideJapan Tours, notes this will be the first spring in four years the country will be open to international travelers, so big crowds can be expected.
For a cheaper alternative with more availability, Rani Cheema, chief executive and travel curator at Cheema’s Travel, recommends traveling to South Korea to see the flowering cherry blossoms this spring instead.
Egypt 
Jonathan Alder, owner of the luxury travel company Jonathan’s Travels, has booked more Egypt trips for clients in the last two years than he has over the entire decade, and requests are picking up speed in 2023. “We’ve had one after another after another after another,” he said.
Some of the renewed interest may be attributed to the anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, says Jasmine Padda, Egypt destination expert for Kensington Tours. She also pointed to the increase in major cruise lines adding sailings in the region.