There has always been a hint of romance to the words road trip; so much, in fact, that it has become the premise for novels like Jack Kerouac’s On the Road or films like Easy Rider and even the satirical National Lampoon’s Vacation.
At a time when travellers are in search of more authentic and immersive experiences, the appeal of road travel is stronger than ever, especially within Asia.
Indeed, to go by an Agoda report from September of this year, we are seeing a surge in road trips, given an 81 percent increase in global car rentals over the past twelve months.
Going on road trips is seen as a more experiential alternative to conventional fixed itinerary tours, giving travellers more freedom to personalise their experiences.
Road trips in the context of anti-tourism
One term we need to keep in mind as 2026 segues into 2027 is anti-tourism or tourism phobia, a state wherein local communities harbour negative or even hostile attitudes towards tourism, tourists, and the travel industry.
As the Handbook of Research on the Impacts, Challenges, and Policy Responses to Overtourism published by Spain’s University of the Balearic Islands puts it:
“[Anti-tourism] often begins as sentiments and can develop into social movements when tourism begins to have a perceived negative impact in the residents’ lives. [It is] closely related to touristification, overtourism, and tourism gentrification.”
In the context of road travel, anti-tourism manifests as the deliberate choice to avoid overcrowded hotspots in favor of tranquil secondary markets.
Consider this: search traffic for secondary Asian destinations is growing 15 percent faster than traditional tourist hubs, and travellers are driving themselves or using regional transport to explore areas that are otherwise hard to reach.
Such road-accessible destinations include mountain passes, terraced fields in northwestern Vietnam, as well as quiet coastal retreats across Malaysia and Thailand.
At the same time, the de rigueur mindset for the modern traveller revolves around slower high-intent travel.
This means travellers are making the most of regional road networks to reduce their carbon footprint, manage their exposure to extreme climates, and directly support rural economies that miss out on typical airport-to-hotel tourist traffic.
Younger travellers in the drivers’ seat
This resurgence in immersive road travel is being driven significantly by younger travellers.
Of the more than 89 percent of travellers opting for non-urban leisure trips this year to find nature, peace, and community-based heritage experiences, the bulk belong to the Millennial generation and Gen Z.
Cost, of course, is another driving factor as the trend is also being fuelled by economic and geopolitical friction.
Travellers in Asia and beyond are reallocating their travel budgets due to the rising cost of airfare, the spate of flight disruptions, and a general wish to avoid conflict-hit flight corridors.
Nothing, in my personal opinion, tends to detract an intrepid traveller from seeing the world; and hitting the road to see more of it (and certainly at closer quarters) is going to be a viable option in the coming year.
