If you feel like the world is getting louder, you’re not wrong. From urban noise pollution to the increasing volume of emergency sirens, we routinely experience more noise than any generation before us. As a result, the absence of noise is becoming a luxury, one that travelers are actively seeking out.
In early October, Hilton released their 2026 trends report, highlighting the latest fashions, ideas and movements shaping the way travelers book and experience travel. Alongside multi-generational travel and the resurgence of U.S. road trips, Hilton highlighted quiet travel, or, as they call it, “hushpitality,” as a growing trend among today’s travelers.
In this article, we’ll explore this desire to turn down the volume and share some ways destinations can lean into this trend.
The growth of quiet travel
While silent retreats have been trendy with wellness travelers for several years, the “quiet-cation” has slowly crept into the mainstream, growing alongside post-pandemic movements like the “soft living” and “anti-grindset” trends, which promote a slower-paced lifestyle with less busyness and background noise.
Quiet travel aligns well with a range of other trends grabbing the attention of today’s travelers. For example, a desire for tranquillity and quiet is often a motivating factor for solo travel, a trend that continues to boom year after year. Other subsets of wellness travel, like sleep tourism, spa therapies and yoga retreats, incorporate silence in varying degrees.
Reducing noise is also a key part of the growing movement toward accessible spaces. In an effort to make their spaces more accessible to neurodivergent travelers, many travel businesses, hotels and airports have built dedicated sensory rooms, usually with a quiet section for travelers seeking a respite from sensory overload.
Similarly, destinations across the world have leaned into the quiet trend. Quiet Parks International (QPI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to noise reduction, awarded their first Urban Quiet Park designation in the U.S. to Mt. Tabor Park in Portland, Oregon, in 2023—and has received nominations for hundreds of additional locations in the country. Designating certain spaces as quiet or low-volume has a range of benefits for both local residents and the environment; it can also create an additional attraction for visitors.
The health benefits of quiet
With the ongoing appetite for wellness travel reaching new heights, it’s not surprising that quiet has become a valued commodity. As much of the world gets louder, we’re becoming more aware of the long-term effects of sound on the body. Recent research has highlighted that constant exposure to background noise—like traffic and loud television—can have negative effects on our health, including sleep disturbances and hypertension.
The research suggests that taking time to be quiet can alleviate stress, help you manage your emotions more effectively and even lower your blood pressure, especially when paired with a practice like meditation or mindfulness.
How DMOs can capture the quiet crowd
Here are some ways DMOs can offer visitors a taste of the quiet life:
Promote your destination’s quiet spaces
From museums to yoga studios, QPI-nominated parks to dark sky sanctuaries, every destination has its pockets dedicated to quiet—but visitors may not be aware of them. By showcasing these experiences on your website, social media and other channels, you can help visitors incorporate quiet time into their trips. As the expert on your destination, you can also share tips to help these visitors make the most of these places. For example, a beachside destination could create a resource ranking the noise and traffic level at different beaches at different times of the day, so a visitor looking for a serene beachside walk can easily find the perfect spot.
Create “quietineraries”
To attract travelers seeking an escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life, consider publishing one or more “quietineraries” on your website or other digital channels. These itineraries would focus on calming activities that your visitors could indulge in as they recharge their batteries in your destination. For example, you could include links to hospitality partners running quaint B&Bs or remote cabins, plus spa and wellness experiences and dining options at hidden gems where your visitors would definitely get a quiet table. You can also include quiet activities in other types of itineraries: for example, a family-focused itinerary might benefit from a few calming activities that would give adults and children the opportunity to take a breather.
Encourage responsible tourism to preserve the quiet
We often think of responsible tourism as a way to reduce pollutants and environmental hazards like pollution, littering and erosion. However, noise is also a pollutant that can endanger plant and animal life as well as human wellbeing. In locations designated as quiet places, consider placing signs to encourage visitors to keep their volume down. You might also consider establishing quiet hours for parks, trails or beaches to regulate noise levels and make these spaces more accessible to all visitors.
As the world gets louder, investing in and promoting quiet spaces in your destination could prove to be a winning strategy to attract visitors and ensure their stay is restful and recharging—which will encourage them to visit again and again.
