Travel Trends to Guide Destination Marketing in 2025

A new year of vacations and adventures means a new set of travel trends guiding consumers in 2025. Destination marketers need to know what’s on everyone’s minds as they design strategies and campaigns to capture travelers’ attention and boost their bookings.

Travel trends for 2025 go beyond big name topics like “wellness” and “sustainability” to more specific, nuanced versions of existing trends. Any destination looking to stay relevant—and well-visited—in 2025, listen up! These trends from some of the biggest names in the travel industry are your key to connecting more effectively with travelers this year.

1. Beyond Wellness

Simply being a “wellness” destination won’t cut it anymore. Travelers are specifically looking for things like longevity programs (yes, please, and thank you!) and other targeted treatments, according to forecasters at Booking.com. Similar reporting in Virtuoso’s 2025 trend report details how “Silver Bullet Wellness” is on the rise for travelers looking for specific programs and therapies while in a destination.

2. Travel to Eat

Culinary travel has never not been in style, but Hilton reports that travelers’ food budgets are on the rise, signaling an important travel trend for 2025. While I don’t consider myself a foodie per se, I can personally see how my culinary budget has been impacted by the innovative dining experiences that woo me. And don’t get me started on my son and the mocktails that now come complete with dry ice. 

Dining is now on a whole other level. Destinations will want to put forward luxury dining experiences, Michelin accolades, and any cooking or immersive experiences to attract travelers looking to throw down for their next meal.

3. AI Who?

Expedia’s recent report explores the trend of “one click trips,” itineraries inspired by social influencers, but also curated by them. This builds on SmartFlyer’s 2025 trends report that reveals how people are looking for human recommendations when they travel, not AI-generated ones. Despite the promise of AI, travelers won’t be leaving their planning or booking up to the bots—not yet at least! So that means destinations should continue to invest in influencer collaborations, especially those that result in long-term partnerships.

4. JOMO for the Win

Now this next trend is very me. FOMO has ceded its place to JOMO—the joy of missing out, according to Expedia’s top 2025 trend. Travelers are increasingly researching destinations devoid of crowds and buzzworth attractions. Similarly, SmartFlyer’s 2025 trends report doubles down on the fact that travelers are seeking cachet instead of cliché, achieving that by going where no one else is going.

5. Scene Setting Persists

Whether it’s the footsteps of Lily Collins in Europe or Jeremy Allen White in Chicago, travelers want to visit the destinations serving as backdrops for their favorite shows. All I need to do is ask my countless nieces and nephews where they want to travel and why to see first-hand this trend in action. 

Expedia’s travel trends report shows that scene-setting continues to be a massively popular trend among travelers, providing destination marketers with a chance to highlight the films and shows produced on location.

6. Paying Green for Green

Sustainable travel is less a trend than a mandate these days. That said, Skift’s Megatrends 2025 shows that 50% of travelers will pay more for greener travel, while 59% want to support businesses that engage in more responsible travel practices. It’s on this point that my kiddo and I agree: going green is doing good. Destinations need to show how travelers can engage their credit cards in greener practices to feed this 2025 travel trend.

7. Travel to the Max

Hilton’s 2025 annual travel trends report finds that “travel maximizers” will be 2025’s leading motivator. It’s all about organizing trips that are high impact and value, optimizing money and time spent on a vacation. There are opportunities here for destinations to showcase how travelers can maximize their time in a city or country with clever itineraries and experiences. I admit this trend has made me stop and think how this applies to my life, and then I realized I probably epitomize the trend.

8. Forget the Will

Reports from Pleasant Holidays and Booking.com show that SKI trips—spending kids inheritance—will be one of 2025’s big travel trends. Families will be looking to make memories together rather than saving their pennies for when it’s too late. Destinations can join the trend, marketing multigenerational escapes and accommodations to help families together to spend big on these moments. Thankfully my son doesn’t read my articles, so he will never know how much this applies to his post-college situation.

Looking to tap into the 2025 travel trends heating up this year? Get in touch with Karyl Leigh Barnes at karyl.barnes@aboutdci.com to learn more about what the research says, and discuss creating your own research project to learn more about how your destination can respond to travelers’ whims this year.