A Look at the Major Travel Trends for 2025
2024 was the year travel made a full recovery — this comes after a 75 percent decline in travel in 2020 with the global pandemic, according to a McKinsey report from May 2024. Domestic travel is expected to also grow 3 percent annually and travel spending represented 9 percent of this year’s global GDP.
In a retrospective look, Priceline, Fora Travel, American Express and Bread Financial summarized this year in travel and forecast how 2025 will shape up.
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Priceline recently launched its first trend report titled “Where to Next?” with Generation Z being a major driver in shaping travel in 2025. The survey was conducted by Current Forward on behalf of Priceline and polled more than 3,700 U.S. adults, including 3,039 people who traveled at least 100 miles from their home by plane or car in the last year and 690 mothers of children of children under 18.
Despite a continued emphasis on people looking to cut back on spending to make ends meet, 27 percent of people said they’d rather give up purchasing coffee than give up traveling.
Bread Financials’ recently published winter travel report authors said that “inflation is the real travel Grinch” this holiday season. Eighty-six percent of winter travelers said that inflation is majorly impacting their travel plans; they plan to cope by spending less when preparing for their trip (27 percent), using credit cards to manage costs (22 percent) and working overtime to generate more income (21 percent).
Priceline’s report found that motivations behind consumers who are looking to spend more on leisure trips in 2025 cited that “life is too short” and they want to make the most of it (42 percent) and optimism about the future (39 percent). While inflation continues to be top-of-mind for most travelers, 69 percent of people reported that they will focus on domestic travel.
Bread Financial concurs with the rise of domestic travel, with 75 percent of winter travelers staying Stateside. However, 52 percent of Gen Z and Millennials are both spending at least a portion of their winter travels outside of the U.S. — as younger-generation consumers lead the charge in international travel.
Priceline’s study found that Gen Z — often cited as the loneliest generation — is putting travel at the forefront of their plans in 2025 as a way to foster new connections, companionship and romances, with 74 percent of Gen Z reporting that they research the best travel destination for meeting new people.
The top-searched hotel spots on the travel website include Vanves, France; Algarve, Portugal; Tbilisi, Georgia; Field, Canada; Penang, Malaysia; Querétaro, Mexico; Torrey, Utah; Chincoteague Island, Va.; Stowe, Vt.; and Friday Harbor, Wash.
As tennis and other racket sports have continued to skyrocket in popularity, Priceline’s report found that tennis and pickleball will also serve as a major source of travel inspiration. Gen Z and Millennial travelers are seeking out destinations to engage in physical activities — with Millennials being 80 percent more interested in planning a vacation around tennis and 87 percent planning trips around pickleball.
Seventy-three percent of Millennials polled said they’re more likely to attend a major tennis tournament while leisurely traveling in 2025 — with the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., the Australian Open and the Miami Open being the major hotel searches.
Other major travel trends found by Priceline include exploring local culture by choosing “Awayborhoods,” “Flocking” to communal spaces to get rid of loneliness feelings, “Star Trekking” to connect with the universe on a cosmic level. Others seeking quiet and relaxing journeys are taking part in a trend called “Townsized,” while many moms said that they are turning to “GetHerWays.”
“We think of 2025 as the year of intentional travel,” Lesley Klein, senior vice president of strategy and brand marketing at Priceline, told WWD. “It will be defined by smaller towns and off-the-beaten-path destinations where travelers can fully immerse themselves in the communities they visit. They’ll seek to have authentic neighborhood experiences and forge new connections while living like a local.”
Meanwhile, travel agency Fora Travel has cited the top destination in 2025 as the Dolomites with its best-in-class spa hotels, Morocco with more plane routes from the East Coast, Thailand with its tropical location used as the backdrop for “The White Lotus” Season 3, the Mediterranean islands with its lesser-known spots such as Formentera and Sardinia being front and center and New York on its recently published “2025 Hot List.”
Five other major travel trends cited in Fora’s report include a return to high-end cruising with The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection and Four Seasons Yachts debuting, solo traveling in cities such as New Orleans, Seattle, Mexico City, London and Rome, far-flung destinations of adventure spots such as Kenya, Bhutan and Chilean Patagonia and redefining the airport lounge experience such as the Delta One Lounge and Private Suites.
Fora said that hotel and lifestyle collaborations will be a major trend citing the Aman hotel group naming tennis star Novak Djokovic its global wellness advisor, the New York’s Mercer Hotel debuting an exclusive facial with Dr. Barbara Sturm, Positano’s Le Sirenuse launching a loungewear line with Comme Si and Fouquet’s, Dior spas on the LVMH-owned Belmond Eastern & Oriental Express and Royal Scotsman trains and the brand’s wellness haven at the Portofino Belmond Splendido and Loulou opening the Loulou Courchevel at H?tel Barrière les Neiges.
Furthermore, Resy found that 67 percent of its survey respondents reported that they’re more likely to travel to a new U.S. city for its food — emphasizing just how much culinary scenes have become a driving focus in consumers’ travel choices.
“Travel and dining go hand in hand,” said Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel. “An Amex Trendex survey found that 70 percent of Millennial and Gen Z respondents would travel to try a popular restaurant. We see a mix of card members planning trips to visit a specific restaurant as well as those looking to us for recommendations on local food tours and cooking classes to make a trip even more memorable.”
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