The age of revenge is over.
It wasn’t too long ago that the world locked away their passports and looked behind at their backyards. Then came the age of revenge travel, and if recent trends reports are to be believed, 2025 will bring more experiential, mindful, activity-focused travel. Year-on-year, travelers change their path of discovery, so we looked at travel trend reports by Booking.com, Expedia Group (Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Expedia), and Skyscanner to find out what consumers want from the new year.
Related: Sleep Divorce, Tempo Drinking, and Other Travel Predictions For 2025
Under-The-Radar Destinations
According to Expedia, flight searches show an increase for “Detour Destinations” such as Reims in France, from Paris; Santa Barbara in California, from Los Angeles; and Brescia in Italy, from Milan. These destinations close to popular destinations are attracting travelers who want fewer crowds—65% are likely to visit these on their next trip.
Booking.com further predicts that alternative itineraries are on the rise with travelers combining artificial intelligence (AI) tools to create bespoke itineraries with the idea of finding a deeper connection to the destination and its people. On the flip side, the study also predicts that people are less likely to share their locations on social media—44% want to prevent the phenomenon of “Instatourists”.
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In addition, consumers are also exploring destinations slowly, with the idea of JOMO (joy of missing out). Vrbo says two-thirds of its consumers think relaxing trips reduce stress and a half feel it helps them connect with loved ones.
Experiences For The Win
2024 was the year of Taylor Swift, solar eclipse, or the Paris Olympics, and experiences will continue to motivate people to book flights in the coming year.
According to Vrbo, people want to follow natural phenomena and it released a Phenomena-List with the Northern Lights as the top contender (61% want to see the play of lights). In fact, 80% of people want to stay in places that offer front-row seats to natural wonders.
Films and shows continue to inspire travelers. Remember all the craze after the Game of Thrones and Harry Potter? People still go to Hobbiton for their love for rings, and more fictional sets have added destinations to wishlists. Emily in Paris may not be critically acclaimed, but it’s still bringing people to France, and White Lotus is also on Expedia’s list of movers and shakers.
Skyscanner, on the other hand, highlights how sports, astro-adventures, and even games are getting consumers to fly somewhere. One peculiar trend is the rise of the popularity of the Wild West—44% of Americans are fanning over Cowboy Core and 29% want to go line dancing. The company now offers a “horseback riding” filter on its website, so you can book hotels where you can live your countryside fantasy.
Wellness is getting another reboot. Going beyond wellness retreats, people are booking trips that promote longevity with activities such as red light therapy and stem cell treatments, Booking.com says. This trend is also supported by Skyscanner’s report, which has picked Phuket as a traveler favorite for silent reflection and SUP yoga.
Related: The Most Coveted Experiences of 2025, According to Travel Experts
Trending Destinations
Skyscanner’s search data over the past 12 months has put Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos on the top of trending destinations list. The company has witnessed an increase of 528% for the destination. Others that are buzzing currently are Quepos, Costa Rica; Tromsø, Norway; Krabi, Thailand; Antwerp, Belgium; and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Tromsø is also on Booking.com’s list of favorite destinations for next year—people really want to see the Northern Lights in 2025. Otherwise, the list has new and underrated destinations such as Sanya in China, Trieste in Italy, and Naha in Japan.
