The Travel Weekly Yearbook 2026 has landed. While producing the bumper 292-page annual, Travel Weekly writers have been lucky enough to visit some extraordinary places and talk to some amazing people.
In the Yearbook, we look at Tibet where the air feels thin enough to make every breath a blessing. In Botswana, we discover the silence between elephant footfalls. Meanwhile, the Mentawai Islands operate on their own oceanic rhythm. In Palau, the ocean has 10 shades of blue. In Greece, dinner always tastes better when eaten outdoors.
“Every destination reminded us that nothing about travel is digital. It’s sensory. It’s lived. It’s felt. It’s dust on your shoes, salt on your skin, and the unexpected warmth of a stranger’s kindness when you need directions. You can’t screenshot any of that,” said Misfits Media directors, Dan Uglow and David Hovenden, publishers of Travel Weekly.
“Returning to print feels right. It feels like honouring the true nature of travel: slow, immersive, textured.”
The Travel Weekly Yearbook 2026 also features predictions from leading travel identities and executives, from Travel Centre Group’s Graham “Skroo” Turner and Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson to CLIA head Joel Katz and CATO managing director Brett Jardine.
Skroo’s predictions come true
In his 2026 prediction Turner praises the resilience of the travel industry as it restarted after the pandemic and as it will restart after the chaos of the Middle East.
“Throw Donald Trump into the mix again and, frankly, all bets are off,” he writes of the year ahead. “Markets don’t like uncertainty, and he creates it in spades. But despite all that, travel to the US hasn’t collapsed, and experience tells us people keep travelling even when the headlines are messy. They might change where they go, how long they go for, or how much they spend but they don’t stop thinking about it.
“Add wars into the mix and it gets heavier. Ukraine and the Middle East aren’t just tragic news stories on your phone; they have a domino effect. They affect fuel prices. They affect confidence. They affect where people feel safe going. Europe in particular has had to juggle perception versus reality. Generally, travellers are careful, not stupid. They’ll avoid hotspots, but they’ll still head off to Spain, Italy, Greece and the US if flights are running and hotels are open.
“The weak Aussie dollar’s not doing us any favours, but people still travel. They trade down. Three weeks becomes two. Five-star becomes four. Business becomes premium economy. Travel adapts.
“If the world behaves itself – even just a little – then yes, a golden era of travel will return. Not overnight. But steadily.”
The Travel Weekly Yearbook 2026 celebrates the destinations, the craft of storytelling, the curiosity that drives our industry, the resilience of Australia’s travel trade, and the pure joy of discovering somewhere new (or rediscovering somewhere familiar). But more than that, this issue celebrates the people powering the travel industry.
Over the coming weeks, we will share online a little of what is on offer in the annual. Reach out if you want a copy.
