Madeira Is the World's Top Trending Destination for 2026
Tripadvisor has named Madeira the number one trending destination in the world for 2026, ahead of Tbilisi, Chicago and Milan. Nine months on, the island has the record visitor numbers, the extra flights and the higher room rates to show for it, and on Monday the UK travel trade lands in Funchal for its annual convention.
Tripadvisor Put Madeira Ahead of Tbilisi, Chicago and Milan
The Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Destinations awards were published on 13 January 2026, covering 270 destinations in 60 countries. Madeira took first place on the Trending Destinations list for the world, with Tbilisi second and Chicago third, followed by Quy Nhon, Puerto Escondido, Milan, Glasgow and Abu Dhabi. Tripadvisor’s own write-up was one sentence: stunning scenery, beautiful architecture, mild weather all year, “the perfect escape at any time”.
Trending is not the same as best, and the difference is worth knowing. The ranking is built from the reviews travellers left on Tripadvisor for hotels, restaurants and things to do between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, and the trending lists reward the steepest rise in that attention rather than the biggest totals. Madeira appears on none of the other 2026 lists. What it won was the sharpest climb in the world, not the title at the top of it.
A Record 12.8 Million Overnight Stays, and 2026 Is Still Climbing
DREM, the regional statistics office, closed 2025 at 12.8 million overnight stays, up 8.4% on 2024, with 2,441,500 guests, up 9.4%. Tourist accommodation took €893.7 million in revenue over the year, a rise of 17.4%. All three were records, and all three were counted before Tripadvisor said a word.
This year has carried on, more slowly. Between January and August the island logged 8.9 million overnight stays, 2.5% up on the same months of 2025, and 1,743,000 guests, up 5.8%. The mix has moved as well: in August the largest single market was Portugal, at 21.1% of stays, ahead of Germany on 14.9% and the United Kingdom on 13.5%.
Fifty-Five UK Flights a Week, and Newark Back in May
At peak summer 2026 the UK had 55 flights a week into Funchal, across British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and TUI Airways. London accounted for 31 of them, an 11% increase on the year before, helped by two new routes: Jet2 from Bournemouth, a 3 hour 40 minute hop, and easyJet from Luton. Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle all have services of their own.
North America came back earlier this year too. United resumed its Newark to Funchal route on 16 May, three times a week, about three weeks ahead of the date it first launched the service in 2025 and with roughly 19% more seats for the summer. For North American travellers, long used to connecting through Lisbon, that is the real change underneath the headline.
The UK Travel Trade Arrives in Funchal on Monday
ABTA holds its Travel Convention at the Savoy Palace in Funchal from 12 to 14 October 2026, the first time it has come to Madeira; Portugal has hosted twice before, Lisbon in 2001 and the Azores in 2017. Tour operators, cruise lines and travel agencies send their senior people, along with around 25 UK national, consumer and trade travel journalists, the part of the guest list that reappears in print weeks later.
Three days after they fly home, on 17 October, the World Travel Awards hold their European gala at Kotor in Montenegro. Madeira is nominated in five categories there, among them Europe’s Leading Island Destination, with Porto Santo up for the beach award.
Madeira is once again among the best destinations in Europe, and that should be taken with pride, but also with responsibility.
Eduardo Jesus, Regional Secretary for Tourism, Environment and Culture
Trending Shows Up in the Prices Before It Shows Up in the Queues
Here is the part the award coverage skipped. In August 2026 the average daily rate across the region’s tourist accommodation was €166.24, up 11.7% in a year, while net bed occupancy slipped to 73.5% from 77.3% the August before. The island was not fuller than last summer. It was dearer. If you are planning a trip on the back of all this, two decisions change your week more than the rest: book the official PR trails in advance through the government portal, which our guide to the SIMplifica system walks through, and choose your month with care, which our month-by-month weather guide covers.
Madeira has had its year of being discovered. The island is still at its best in the months that never make a list.
