Over the last year, much of the planet was either in the midst of lockdown, or, under some kind of travel restrictions. Travel plans were cancelled and people were consigned to their homes, waiting for the day when restrictions would be lifted. With the success of the vaccine rollout, and the emergence of vaccine passports in places like the European Union, international travel has become possible again. Travellers are more than ready. Unforgettable Travel, a luxury travel operator, found that over the past year, people have extensively searched for travel experiences. Unforgettable Travel worked with the digital marketing agency, SEO Travel, to compile a list of the most searched “bucket list” destinations and analyzed how many of those people made plans to visit those sites. Here are some of the insights from that study.

The Most Searched “Bucket List” Destinations (May 2020 to May 2021)

Unforgettable Travel found that visiting the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, was the most searched for travel experience for the period. This was a surprise result because as majestic as the Burj Khalifa is, there are a lot of superior travel experiences. Perhaps the secret to the site’s success is the fact that Dubai remained open during much of the pandemic period which helped to make the Burj Khalifa more popular. Mount Everest’s high ranking demonstrates the growing popularity of outdoor activities over indoor ones. If you take a look at the list of the top 50 most searched for travel experiences, you will find five other hikes: Havasu in Arizona, the Inca Trail in Peru, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Table Mountain in South Africa, and Trolltunga in Norway.

In a sense, it’s not surprising that during a pandemic so many people would search for travel experiences. The search itself is soothing, a promise of a better future. It’s also a testament to how hard it is to leg go of many of these travel experiences. In an era in which people have been cooped up in their homes, the lure of places such as Angkor Wat, the Banff National park, and the Great Barrier Reef, has never been stronger. The pandemic has taught people the importance of travel experiences, especially when they involve having things to do with kids. People are more aware than ever of the importance of friends and family and the preciousness of their freedom to travel and explore the world. As the world reopens and travel resumes, we have learned that when you have the chance to travel and experience the wonders of the world, you should take it.