You know you can count on us to share THE travel trends worth unpacking every year. While none of our 2024 predictions should fall off your radar (because they’re still very much on-trend!), here’s what you can additionally watch for in 2025. We’re also identifying who’s already tackling them well and how you can deliver on these trends for travelers.
Regenerative Tourism
When sustainable travel just won’t cut it, the most conscientious wanderlusters can turn to regenerative tourism. Marked by actively helping rather than passively avoiding harm, these trips feature hands-on environmental efforts or community contributions.
Who’s already doing it well? Reforestation and wildlife conservation are the name of the game at Huilo Huilo Biological Reserve in Chile. Closer to home, Fogo Island Inn connects guests with local artisans and fishermen to help preserve the island’s culture and bolster a core industry.
How can you deliver on it? Do you have grounds? Set aside some space to plant a community garden. Invite guests to toil in the soil (it does wonders for the soul!), and you’ll soon have a harvest to share with your neighbors. So fresh!
Tech Takeover
Picture this: Your visitor built their trip itinerary with AI and took some VR tours before their arrival. Digital nomad that they are, they pack every connected device they own to play (and work remotely) during their stay. Are you up to speed on the tech they need?
Who’s already doing it well? Aloft Hotels embraces tech culture with mobile check-in/check-out, keyless entry and lobbies designed as social hubs with communal tables boasting built-in charging stations. While Royal Parks in the UK offers a free app so visitors can experience what the south side of Hyde Park looked like in 1851 through The Great Exhibition Augmented Reality Experience.
How you can deliver on it: If you’re a property without a chatbot, get one (pronto!). While the AI-enabled bot tackles everyday questions, your staff is freed up to deliver immersive and meaningful guest experiences. Marketing a destination? Consider creating an AR-guided tour to connect visitors with local points of pride. Keep up!
Me-to-a-T
You’ve seen this play out a million times. One guest sets off for an epic outdoor adventure. Another embarks on a brewery crawl. And yet another slips into the spa and doesn’t emerge until every tension has been soothed. Today’s vacationers have precious little time for leisure travel, so they need to make sure every moment is personally fulfilling.
Who’s already doing it well? Kiawah Island Golf Resort boasts more than championship courses. Its world-class amenities and award-winning recreational programming provide something for everyone. In fact, their offerings are so extensive we designed a custom website page with filtering functionality so guests can find exactly-right-for-them pursuits.
How you can deliver on it: Not every property has the resources to offer such an extensive array of activities – and they don’t need to. Consider personal motivations for travel – adventure, relaxation, discovery – and make calculated decisions about what you can make available to inspire your guests. Very empowering!
Traveling Alone, Together
This isn’t the first time we’ve written about solo travelers (see here, here and here). Today, we’re looking at them through a particular lens. There’s a segment of on-their-own seekers who want to experience interesting corners of the world with like-minded fellow travelers. Enter the small group tour!
Who’s already doing it well? Tauck proudly caters to the solo traveler both in spirit and in savings. And wellness resort Lansdowne encourages leisure and group guests to embark on a journey of self-discovery while also providing daily activities such as nature walks and wine tastings to bring these discoverers together.
How you can deliver on it: Tour operators have a duty to ensure that everyone feels welcomed and accepted within the group. Properties can and should offer single rooms at a fair rate (rather than forcing a double-occupancy standard) as well as provide opportunities for socializing in public spaces. Mix and mingle!
Micro Metros
You don’t need to be in the travel business to know about overtourism. Rather than being a face in a massive crowd, savvy vacationers are first seeking out “secondary cities” for the trip of a lifetime. So while it’s arrivederci to Rome, Florence and Venice, it’s Buongiorno to Bologna, Perugia and Catania.
Who’s already doing it well? Secondary cities around the globe – including Porto (Portugal), Quebec City (Canada), Kyoto (Japan) and Quito (Ecuador) – have been winning over international travelers with no end in sight to their popularity.
How you can deliver on it: If you operate a national or statewide DMO, you know secondary cities have just as much to offer as your primary destinations. So give them some marketing love! Actively promote their local cuisine, unique experiences and top attractions. And if you are a secondary (or even tertiary) city, shout from the rooftops the reasons to visit your destination over the everyone-knows-places. Put yourself on the map!
Fam Trips
Ancestral and heritage travel have long inspired trips to homelands. Now, DNA test kit results have driven these types of voyages to epic new levels because people want to reconnect with the cultures that gave rise to their families.
Who’s already doing it well? Ireland is renowned for offering genealogy research and ancestral journeys for travelers interested in immersing themselves in their Celtic heritage. Go Irish!
How you can deliver on it: Destinations need to preserve historical and heritage sites, work with genealogists to connect their services with ancestral travelers, host celebrations of local customs and cultures and sell visitation through meaningful storytelling for a happily ever after.
Disappearing Destinations
Climate change has a negative impact on the tourism industry. But for some destinations, it’s nothing less than an existential crisis. Travelers are motivated to visit these places on two fronts. First, to ensure they experience them before they’re wiped off the Earth and, second, to support preservation efforts (linking back to our Regenerative Tourism trend).
Who’s already doing it well? As rising sea levels threaten to make the Maldives uninhabitable, UNESCO designated the tourism-dependent Baa Atoll as a biosphere reserve. Since then, it hosted 350,000 visitors annually (pre-pandemic) as part of a sustainable ecotourism initiative.
How you can deliver on it: All tourism infuses local economies with revenue. The key is to balance this positive influx of visitor spending with responsible tourism that leaves the lightest possible footprint. Destinations can offer opportunities for willing vacationers to do their part – whether that’s through cleanup efforts, building seawalls, planting drought-resistant crops or contributing to disaster relief and preparedness. Go the extra mile!
Outta-This-World Escapes
If you’ve ever caught a rerun of Star Trek (the original TV series!), you’ve heard these words from Captain Kirk: “To boldly go where no man has gone before.” Now Trekkies (or anyone with very deep pockets!) can actually boldly go to space!
Who’s just starting to do it well? So far, the space (tourism) race is fairly small, with flights being offered through just a few operators, including Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.
How you can deliver on it: If you’re not a many-times-over billionaire like Bezos or Branson, you likely won’t be building rockets to send guests into the stratosphere anytime soon. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a more creative approach to seize the zeitgeist. Properties can create a family space camp stay package and destinations can promote their space-themed attractions. Blast off!
At Dana, we don’t just report the trends. We anticipate what’s coming down the road and expertly guide our clients through the ever-changing landscape of travel and hospitality marketing. Want to gain an edge over your competition? Contact Lynn Kaniper at 609.266.9187 ext. 117 or lkaniper@danacommunications.com to discuss what Dana can do for you.
