These Are the 5 Biggest Travel Trends for 2025, According to Luxury Travel Advisors

And providers are listening. In cruising, single supplements have always been a serious disincentive for solo travelers, but companies are rethinking that equation. Cruise company AmaWaterways removed single supplements for solo travelers on select European river cruises in 2024, while Swiss travel network A Small World has launched the Solo Cruise Company, targeting women over 55.

The options on land are as wide as the compass allows. Consider that Intrepid Travel will debut its first women-only trips to Saudi Arabia in late 2024: Partnering with a local female-owned operator, the experiences will include visiting Saudi women’s homes and female-only beaches.

For lovers of the arts, Scotland’s Fife Arms art hotel has just launched a three-night Artful Solo Traveler package that includes an artist-led wild-sketching or creative writing class, a tour of the hotel’s renowned art and antiques collection of more than 16,000 pieces, and a two-hour, head-to-toe treatment at the spa. Amilla Maldives offers a “mid-life wellbeing” retreat for perimenopausal and menopausal women; in the Hamptons, Shou Sugi Ban House offers a personal women’s wellness consultation with a focus on optimizing hormone health, maintaining blood sugar levels, and supporting menstruation and fertility.

Cruising Picks Up (Even More) Steam

Cruising is growing more than any luxury travel sector, Belles says. “While hotels had their heyday with substantial growth in the wake of the pandemic, cruising has emerged this year as one of the strongest sectors within travel thanks to new lines, ships, and itineraries coming into the market.”

Yacht cruising is up a stunning 52% over 2023; river cruising is up 23%; expedition cruising up 19%, and ocean cruising is up 15%. From aurora chasing in the Arctic Circle to visiting remote pearl farms, luxury cruising has never been more vibrant or alluring. On the cultural front, look to industry leaders like Viking Cruises, which pioneered sailing on the Yangtze River, returning to China in the coming year with a new series of exclusive itineraries (and pairing with never-hotter Japan); or Aqua Expeditions, which is launching new 2025 itineraries to remote regions of West Papua with cultural exchanges with the indigenous Asmat Community, which didn’t have contact with the outside world until the 1950s.

On ships as well as on land, experience is become increasingly central. “Many people prefer to be more active,” says Alyse Cori, founder and travel advisor at Travelwize, a Virtuoso agency. She sees the surge in expedition cruising as a dynamic that’s not going away any time soon. “[Clients} want to relish in the intrigue of a rarely visited location, breathe fresh air, and create experiences of a lifetime.”

Coolcations Are Summer’s New Cool Kids

The Lofoten Islands in Norway

Baby, it’s hot in Italy… and Greece… and the South of France… in the summer. And this is no longer an aberration. “Climate change is causing more extreme weather, whether it’s heat waves across Europe, wildfires, or more destructive storms,” says Belles, who says that as temperatures soar, luxury travelers want summer destinations that offer more moderate weather: northern Europe, mountain regions, and coastlines “not previously associated with basking,” she says.

Cue the coolcation. “Scandinavia, in particular, is having a big moment with a 25 percent increase in bookings compared to last summer,” Belles says. According to Virtuoso, Norway has seen an incredible 89 percent increase and Sweden has posted a 17 percent bump. Canada is also up significantly, Belles says: 40 percent over last summer. “We expect this trend to continue through next year and beyond,” she says, “especially as outdoor and adventure-focused experiences—and the feeling of awe and wonder that nature inspires—prove to be key motivators for travel.”

Shopping for (and sporting) Aran Island sweaters while at Dromoland Castle in July? Living your Swiss chalet dream at the foot of the Matterhorn at the venerable Schweizerhof in August? It’s a whole new, and cooler, summer world out there.

Dupes Are Having a Major Moment

Lake Atitlán in Guatemala

In addition to shifting travel plans because of climate-driven reasons, luxury travelers are also keen to get out of the over-tourism trap that’s plaguing increasing numbers of high-profile destinations like Italy.

“Popularity comes with some challenges,” says Cristina Buaas, founder and travel advisor at CSB Travel, a Virtuoso agency. “During the peak summer months from June to September, top spots like Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast, and Taormina can be quite crowded, and nightly rates for premium properties have gone up considerably in the last two years.”

Even for luxury travelers, the combination of crowds and crazy prices is driving an interest in dupes, or destination substitutes that offer better value—in experience and price. Instead of Italy, Virtuoso clients are heading to Portugal, Croatia, and Slovenia. Travelers who’ve already delighted in the Croatian classics like Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik and going deeper into the Balkans and exploring the beautiful and lesser traveled coastlines of Montenegro. The best Costa Rica dupe? Guatemala. You heard it here first.

Wellness Is Redefining Itself

Sleep is the new pampering. So is cognitive health, disease prevention, and longevity. Luxury wellness travel is on the rise, growing more than 16 percent annually, topping a $2 trillion industry by 2027, according to Virtuoso.

What does this mean for your next wellness journey? Everything from ancient-medicine-inspired “Beyond the Ordinary” retreats at Thailand’s Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai to a “Mindful Dream” program at Gili Lankanfushi in the Maldives aimed to enhance guests’ sleep quality. Meanwhile, at wellness-centered NOŪS Santorini, special facials focus on skin care tailored for pre- and post-menopausal stages. Closer to home, the spa at Meadowood Napa Valley offers sound therapy via a zero-gravity Therabody Lounger.

But the lure is not just about a targeted fix. “We continue to see travelers who are seeking out destinations, places, and properties to soothe their soul and escape stress and uncertainty by seeking tranquility and silence, with wellness programming that is tailor made to their needs and specifications,” says Carolyn Addison, head of product at Black Tomato. “One of our favorites is SHA Wellness in Alicante, Spain, which is a very comprehensive program of holistic health, a complete reboot. For those who want to go all in, this is about as good as it gets.”

Addison also loves Ananda in the Himalayas, tucked into the foothills of the famed mountain range. “This elegant and peaceful property is a true spiritual pathway with real expertise in Indian wellness regimes,” she says. “It’s all about holistic living but doesn’t skimp on any of the luxurious amenities.”

On the other hand, maybe it’s as simple—and life-enhancing—as booking a visit to a floating sauna in Zurich.