Copy That: How Destination Dupes Took Over Travel in 2026

Fashion has long had its dupes, the clever, cheaper stand ins for coveted designer pieces. Now the very same idea has swept right into the world of travel. Instead of joining the crush at the same handful of famous, pricey hotspots, a growing wave of travelers is seeking out lookalike destinations that offer a similar experience for a fraction of the cost, and in 2026 the so called destination dupe has gone thoroughly mainstream.

What is a destination dupe

The concept behind it is refreshingly simple. A destination dupe is a lesser known place that offers a similar look and feel to a popular, bucket list locale, but comes with smaller crowds, lower price tags and, quite often, a far more genuine slice of local life than its famous twin.

The idea was popularised in large part by the travel company Expedia, whose trend reports have championed these travel twins as spots that are a little unexpected and more affordable, yet every bit as delightful as the tried and tested places that travelers already know and love.

A booming bargain

The appeal, above everything else, is the sheer amount of money saved. Research cited around the trend suggests that swapping a premium destination for a lower profile alternative can save the average traveler well over two thousand dollars across the course of a single trip.

Those savings stack up right across the board. From airfares and hotel rooms to restaurant meals and paid attractions, choosing a dupe can trim the total cost of a holiday by anywhere from thirty to fifty percent, which goes a very long way when travel prices feel relentlessly high.

The numbers behind the swap

The shift in taste is showing up clearly in the data. According to Expedia's Unpack report for 2026, a striking sixty three percent of travelers now say they would genuinely rather visit a destination dupe than a traditional, well trodden tourist hotspot.

Money worries are plainly a big part of the story. In the same research, around thirty one percent of consumers admitted that they were financially worse off than the year before, a squeeze that has clearly sharpened the appetite for clever, cost conscious ways to travel.

Younger travelers are firmly leading the charge here. Skyscanner has found that more than sixty percent of young travelers now actively search for budget friendly alternatives, while surveys suggest close to eighty percent of Gen Z and millennials prize authentic culture over the usual tourist trail.

Meet the twins

Half the fun lies in matching a dupe to its more famous counterpart. Travelers priced out of the blue domes of Santorini increasingly turn instead to the quieter Greek island of Paros, while the easy charms of Lisbon can be echoed, for rather less, in the sun baked streets of Palermo.

The list runs on and on from there. Slovenia's elegant Ljubljana stands in nicely for Paris, Spain's Valencia offers a calmer take on nearby Barcelona, and more adventurous travelers happily swap crowded Greece for the rugged, wallet friendly coastlines of neighbouring Albania.

Sometimes the twin sits on the far side of the planet entirely. Perth has been floated as a laid back alternative to Sydney, Taipei as a fresh stand in for Seoul, and any number of little visited coastal gems across Europe as gentle substitutes for their hopelessly overrun celebrity cousins.

Escaping the crowds

Price, though, is only ever half of the motivation. The other half is a growing weariness with overtourism, as beloved names like Venice, Bali and Paris groan under record visitor numbers, endless queues and a creeping sense that the old magic has been trampled quite flat.

A good dupe promises something those crowds simply cannot. With far fewer selfie sticks and a great deal more breathing room, these quieter alternatives offer the kind of unhurried, authentic encounter with a place that many travelers feel they have sorely been missing for years.

A win for smaller places

The trend could end up reshaping the very map of tourism itself. The World Travel and Tourism Council expects lesser known destinations to see their visitor numbers climb by around thirty percent in the coming years, spreading both the crowds and the spending far more evenly around.

For long overlooked towns and regions, that represents a genuine opportunity. As travelers grow steadily bolder about straying from the well beaten path, the humble dupe may end up rewriting not just individual holidays, but the fortunes of countless places long left off the postcard.