As you begin envisioning your travels for the year ahead, have you considered the evolving landscape of exploration? The global travel industry, encompassing giants from Airbnb to Booking.com, is already anticipating these shifts. Through analyzing extensive survey data, user behavior patterns, and advance bookings, these industry leaders are offering their annual projections, showcasing emerging trends, pinpointing future popular destinations, and illuminating how and why we will journey across the globe in the coming year.
“Trends appeal to people because they bring a sense of order and comprehension to an increasingly intricate and rapidly changing world,” explains Jenny Southan, CEO of Globetrender, a leading travel trend forecasting agency. “In the realm of travel, trends act as a compass, providing direction and a framework for engaging with the world around us.”
For Jasmine Bina, CEO of Concept Bureau, a cultural futurist and seasoned consumer behavior analyst, these trends reveal our deepest yearnings. “Travel Trends offer a glimpse into what truly motivates individuals when the constraints of daily life are lifted,” she states. “Currently, the prevailing desire is a feeling of profound transformation.”
While the travel sector has largely rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, the backdrop of economic instability, ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and political transitions in major nations casts a shadow of uncertainty over 2025.
Travel trends are a window into what people really desire when the rules of everyday life are suspended – Jasmine Bina
“One might argue that we are seeking new points of stability,” Bina suggests. “Travel trends such as stargazing, holiday romances, nostalgia trips, sleep-focused tourism, and digital detoxes indicate a collective yearning to reconnect with something greater than ourselves.”
Southan concurs, “Trends establish a shared narrative – a sense of collective discovery – where we all participate in a global conversation about what truly matters,” she says. “Whether it’s the allure of undiscovered destinations or the desire for purposeful travel, trends provide us with an anchor, making it easier to understand our place within the broader global travel landscape.”
Here are some of the dominant trends predicted to shape travel in 2025, as forecasted by prominent travel brands and tour operators worldwide.
1. Noctourism: Embracing the Night
Noctourism, a fusion of “nocturnal” and “tourism,” encompasses travel experiences that unfold after dark. This trend spans from extended museum hours and bioluminescent beach explorations to the captivating pursuit of the Northern Lights. In 2025, solar activity is projected to reach a multi-decade peak, sending an amplified flux of charged particles towards Earth’s atmosphere, promising spectacular aurora displays. Award-winning UK travel firm Trailfinders highlights Finnish Lapland and Norway’s Lofoten Islands, along with Svalbard and Iceland, as premier destinations for witnessing these celestial phenomena. Noctourism seamlessly aligns with a core principle of the travel industry: nurturing a deeper connection with the wider world, now under the cloak of night.
2. Calm-cations: Seeking Serenity and Silence
Calm-cations, holidays meticulously designed to cultivate tranquility, remain a popular travel trend for 2025. Noise, in particular, is taking center stage, spurred by a World Health Organization report that identifies noise pollution, especially from traffic, as the second most significant contributor to poor health in Western Europe.
Havila Voyages has pioneered “quiet escapes” along the Norwegian coastline, offering respite from the clamor of modern life. These voyages feature sound monitoring stations and real-time noise forecasts, comparing decibel levels to bustling cities like New York, Paris, and London. Alternatively, Unplugged provides tech-free cabins in the UK and Europe, championing a mission to “help the always-on switch off.” The newly launched Majamaja retreat in the Helsinki archipelago offers architecturally designed off-grid cabins, fostering a reconnection with nature. These trends collectively signal that the escapism sought through travel increasingly includes disconnecting from technology and embracing silence.
3. The Rise of AI in Travel: Tech-Enhanced Journeys
Expect technology to assume a more prominent role in travel planning. Travel tech company Amadeus reports that nearly 50% of their customers plan to prioritize generative AI in their travel arrangements through 2025. However, the survey also reveals that many travel businesses are still exploring how to effectively implement this technology. Flight-free holiday provider Byway offers inspiration, having developed its proprietary AI engine to simplify complex timetables and multi-country itineraries, addressing a significant hurdle in European travel planning.
Other companies, such as Tripadvisor, are leveraging generative AI to assist in crafting trip itineraries, while a growing number of airports are transitioning away from paper baggage tags, utilizing AI to enhance baggage sorting efficiency. Hyatt hotels are even piloting AI-powered beds capable of monitoring heart rate, movement, and blood pressure to optimize guest comfort and sleep quality.
However, the embrace of technology isn’t universal. Research from ABTA, the association of travel agents and tour operators, indicates that Gen Z travelers are nearly as likely to browse holiday brochures for inspiration as they are to search online, suggesting that while tech integration is significant, traditional methods still hold appeal.
4. Holiday Romances and Social Connections: Reclaiming In-Person Interactions
The increasing prevalence of digital interaction has paradoxically fueled digital burnout, particularly in the realm of relationships. A 2024 Forbes Health survey revealed that 79% of Gen Z experience exhaustion from online dating. The antidote? A travel trends report from Globetrender and Amadeus highlights meeting new people in real life as a key prediction for 2025.
Whether or not a holiday romance blossoms, finding trips that foster genuine connections is becoming easier than ever, with a surge in group and solo travel opportunities designed for social interaction. G Adventures and Flash Pack are leading the charge, expanding their offerings for solo travelers seeking shared adventures and meaningful connections on the road.
5. Off-the-Beaten-Path Destinations: Mainstreaming the Unique
Following significant overtourism challenges in 2024, less-traveled destinations are gaining traction. As Byway observes in their 2025 travel trend forecast, “people want to travel where they’re welcomed wholeheartedly.” The firm points to “destination dupes” – alternative locations mirroring popular hotspots – as a trend to watch, with travelers potentially opting for Norfolk over Cornwall, for example.
Emerging destinations extend beyond domestic swaps. Trailfinders lists Uzbekistan as a top destination, while luxury tour operator Scott Dunn highlights East Africa’s islands, citing new hotel openings in Zanzibar and Madagascar, alongside a new luxury yacht experience in the remote Aldabra islands.
Airbnb’s top 20 trending destinations for 2025 include less-expected locales like Milton Keynes and East Sussex. Their list is compiled from trending searches and wish-listed cities on their platform. However, it also includes Rome, Tokyo, and Milan, all cities grappling with overtourism in 2024, indicating that the issue persists despite the shift towards less-visited places.
6. Cool-cations and Off-Season Safaris: Adapting to Climate Shifts
For travelers accustomed to Southern European summers, the question has shifted from “where is hot?” to “where is not?”. As temperatures in traditional Mediterranean summer destinations continue to soar, climate change is increasingly influencing travel choices. Scott Dunn reported a 26% surge in bookings to Finland and Norway in 2024 and anticipates continued growth in tourists heading to Northern Europe, where summer temperatures remain comfortably in the mid-20s.
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Seasonal shifts are not confined to beach destinations; they are also impacting wildlife tourism. Peak safari season for Scott Dunn has shifted from December to March, driven by changing climate patterns and cost considerations. Climate change is a tangible reality, and both the travel industry and travelers are adapting accordingly.
7. Nostalgia Travel: Reliving Past Adventures
Could ’90s music icons like Oasis and Eminem follow Taylor Swift’s lead and disrupt the travel industry in 2025? Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is credited with boosting travel and tourism globally throughout 2024. While music tourism is a growing trend, the potential revivals of Eminem and Oasis also point to a broader phenomenon: the rise of nostalgia tourism.
Globetrender terms this trend “New Heydays,” noting that as millennials enter middle age, the holidays of their childhood are being revisited. They anticipate a resurgence of adult summer camps in the US, increased interest in Eurocamp (camping holidays in Europe), and a proliferation of retro pop-up experiences, such as the Polly Pocket Airbnb of 2024. This trend may indicate a desire for respite from current uncertainties, a retreat to the comforting familiarity of childhood experiences and simpler times.
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