Northern lights in Alaska. Pic via Getty Images
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What will shape our holidays in 2025? From emerging destinations to new technology, take a look at what to expect in the world of travel in the coming year.
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Forget business class. Taylor Swift was the hottest ticket in town in 2024. Swift’s Eras tour made gig-tripping – following favourite musicians around the world – the trend of the year, rivalled only by the hunt for “destination dupes”, aka alternatives to overtouristed cities and tourist sites.
Looking ahead to 2025, travellers will keep seeking out lesser-known destinations and far-flung corners of the world, hunt for operators and hotels that care about the environment and local cultures, and pick holiday spots where the barometer is less likely to hit the red. Read on for more.
It’s cool to be cool and next year more people will be choosing travel dates made more for overcoats and beanies than sun hats and bikinis. Dubbed the coolcation, holidaying during the cooler months i not just about avoiding the heat, and the crowds and costs that come with peak travel in hot spots like Greece, Spain and France in summer, but about the unique experiences that only happen in winter and autumn.
Expedia Group’s Sarah King says one of the big drawcards of a coolcation is natural phenomena. “Our recent Unpack ’25 report shows more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of Aussies are interested in experiencing the Northern Lights during their travels, with cool-climate destinations such as Norway, Finland and Iceland offering this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
More Australians are also booking Rail Europe tickets during the northern winter. Richard Leonard, Rail Europe APAC general manager, says the year-on-year increase has been about 10 per cent. “And we are expecting the same, if not a little more, in 2024-2025.”
Stargazing is the original traveller obsession – how else do you think the ancient explorers on their world cruises passed the time? And it seems nothing has changed. In 2024, record aurora activity saw the Northern and Southern Lights dancing across our skies and into social media feeds. The aurora forecast for 2025 is just as good and the bright sparks of the travel industry are gearing up to deliver tours and experiences for light lovers.
Dark-sky tourism is rising astronomically, and Australia is home to some of the world’s best reserves, such as Arkaroola International Dark-Sky Sanctuary in South Australia. Here, you’ll find telescopes, a state-of-the-art Astro Experience and reclining lounge chairs so you can lie back and soak it all in.
If time and distance allow, tours and hotels in Scandinavia, Alaska and Canada offer myriad ways to see the stars and auroras, including luxury Arctic resorts, adventurous expedition cruises, and snowmobile and dog-sledding itineraries. A professional photographer is on board for Trafalgar’s new seven-day Alaska Northern Lights itinerary to ensure you capture the celestial kaleidoscope over Denali National Park.
Complementing this is the trend for man-made, light-based installations and drone and laser shows. Bruce Munro, the artist behind the famous Field of Light at Uluru, is back in 2025 with Trail of Light on the Murray River at Mildura/Wentworth; Uluru has the new Sunrise Journeys light show, and Illumina is now on K’gari, Queensland. Across the world, a new exhibition of Munro’s work is lighting up Velarde Gallery in Devon, England, and immersive light and VR experiences – think Tokyo’s TeamLab Planets – have spread to Singapore with the new Bubble Planet.
All roads lead to Rome as the 2023 TikTok trend gets a revival off the release of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II movie, out this week. Twenty-five years after the original starring Russell Crowe, everyone’s current crush Paul Mescal is bringing swords and sandals back into vogue and inspiring Roman holidays for history-lovers and set-jetters.
Just dig a little deeper than the Colosseum and the Pantheon, says Matt Smith, co-host of La Trobe University’s Emperors of Rome podcast. “Make sure you check out the Forum, the Baths of Caracalla, the Ara Pacis and Castel Sant’Angelo. There’s even a Roman road beneath the glass floor of a McDonalds in Marino.”
Another excuse to visit Rome or, more specifically, the Vatican, is the 2025 Catholic Jubilee. Many major buildings have been cleaned and restored ahead of the event, which will see pilgrims and tourists from all over enjoying the high pomp and ceremony.
HOT TIP: The soon-to-open Four Seasons Vatican City will be the place to stay.
When Railbookers announced a four-continent journey priced from $US115,599 ($175,000) per person, a waitlist of hundreds quickly formed. Embracing the golden age of rail doesn’t have to cost six figures, of course; a wealth of shorter journeys (plus a growing network of both sleeper and faster trains) are being announced around the world, from China’s new high-speed sleepers to Australia’s new mega-rail treks from Journey Beyond. Add to that the Eurail Pass network’s expanded European Sleeper routes, travelling from Brussels to Venice via Netherlands and Austria from February 2025 and going the extra mile is made easy.
The cost-of-living crisis has put more emphasis on how far the Aussie dollar will take us and savvy travellers will prioritise places where they’ll get more bang for their buck. Australians are flocking to Japan as the weaker yen offers fantastic value. Turkey is also relatively inexpensive, while Argentina is surprisingly affordable.
Tristan Dakin, ANZ country manager for money transfer company Wise, says destinations in Eastern Europe – particularly Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania – are great options for budget-conscious Europhiles looking to escape the expensive Eurozone.
Closer to home, he says Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are consistently cheap and cheerful – making them a favourite, even with the Aussie dollar weakening in recent years. “You can enjoy reasonably priced accommodation, food and activities,” he says.
There’s a word for the human need to connect with nature – biophilia – and hotels and resorts are tapping into the dopamine-boosting concept, even in big cities. Singapore’s Pan Pacific Orchard has four terraces that showcase distinct environments, including the Forest Terrace’s three-dimensional space with tropical plants, a waterfall and landscaped pond, while the Beach Terrace has a sandy beachfront leading to an emerald lagoon.
At the new Boca de Agua in Bacalar, on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, flora and fauna flourish around tropical treehouse-style villas. Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve just off the west coast of Saudi Arabia in the otherwise uninhabited Ummahat Islands, is an entirely solar-powered resort emerging from nature. Its 62 seashell-inspired villas harmonise with the environment of the Red Sea archipelago.
What do you do when you can’t afford the great Australian dream of buying your own home? Go travelling instead. As Millennials and Gen Z grapple with high house prices, prohibitive interest rates, and general cost-of-living pressures, more and more will say “f*ck it!” and start ticking off their bucket-lists early.
According to 2024 data commissioned by InsureandGo, three in four (71 per cent) of Australians under 30 reported they would spend their money on travel rather than on property in the next 12 months. The trend is fuelled by the “experience culture”, which places importance on making memories over spending money on “stuff”. Inflating this trend is workplace flexibility and the ever-increasing number of countries (Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Italy among them) now offering digital nomad visas – permits that allow travellers to stay in a country long-term while working remotely.
This bold new cohort will become perennial adventurers fuelling even more new travel trends in the future.
Who runs the world? Solo women do. Particularly Baby Boomers and Gen X, who are powering the tour industry. Virtuoso data says women make up 71 per cent of the solo travellers.
More women are travelling alone, whether they’re single, widowed or have partners that don’t want to travel, and companies are creating tours to meet the demand.
Niche travel operators such as Adventurous Women and Girls on Tour offer escorted women-only small group tours on the Camino Trail and to challenging destinations, such as Morocco, Antarctica and the Five “Stans”.
“We are seeing a rise in women wanting to embark on solo travel later in life, whether it’s embracing popular European destinations such as Italy and Sweden, or those extra-intriguing destinations like India and Egypt,” says Toni Ambler, managing director of premium travel company Insight Vacations, which has just launched 11 women-only tours spanning Italy to Peru.
Bigger companies are also getting on board, with G Adventures now offering “solo-ish” tours for all ages, which they predict will appeal mostly to women.
Cruise lines are also building and refurbishing ships with more solo cabins and waiving the solo supplement to make sailing for singles more affordable.
Passenger demand for premium economy continues unabated, and the new Commercial Aircraft Seat Actuation Market report predicts increased competition between airlines in this “in-between” cabin class over the next five years. “The rising demand for premium economy seats reflects a broader trend of increasing consumer expectations for quality and comfort in air travel,” the report says.
Cathay Pacific leads the charge into 2025 with its new premium cabin, with an all-new seat, privacy headrest, extra padding, leg rests, amenity kits, larger video screens and a dedicated toilet. As part of a $US834 billion upgrade of its A350-900 fleet, Singapore Airlines will refurbish its premium cabin, and ultra long-haul fleet seats increasing from 20 to 58. The changes are due from 2026. Also expect carriers to follow Air France rebranding premium economy simply as premium when it launched its new cabin earlier this year.
Eyes are also on Qantas with its much-delayed Project Sunrise direct flights from Australia to New York and London. The new premium cabin on the Airbus A350-1000 boasts 40 “cradle concept“ seats, an extra 5cm of legroom and a communal “wellness zone” on flights due in 2026.
A lot of chatter about AI and travel is about automated itinerary planning. But according to Tony Carne from Everything in AI Travel Newsletter, innovation lies in the personalisation of trips. “The future of AI isn’t building itineraries,” he says. It’s about being with the customer from arrival to departure, predicting their needs in real time. “Imagine a bot on your phone alerting you before meals, suggesting a different activity when there’s a possibility of rain, or recommending restaurants you’re walking by that can accommodate dietary restrictions like gluten-free options,” Carne says, highlighting how AI might customise experiences and create seamless journeys.
The popularity of survival shows such as Alone and the rewilding lifestyle movement has spilled over into travel, with navigation courses and foraging tours on the rise, along with holidays to places with extreme climates. More travellers are venturing to far-flung destinations, and testing themselves with activities such as glacier hiking, and expedition cruising is the most accessible way to have these out-of-the-ordinary experiences, whether it’s diving on a pristine coral reef or dog sledding.
For the first time, all spots on Aurora Expeditions’ Alpine Trekking activity have been booked out on Antarctic 2024-25 voyages. There has also been an increase in interest in the company’s three-day Shackleton’s Crossing activity, with a waitlist for 2025-26 departures. Across the board, Aurora Expeditions has seen a rise in passengers booking activities in Antarctica, with camping, paddling and snowshoeing showing the highest growth.
Cruise Lines International Association figures show the number of expedition cruisers has risen by more than 70 per cent since 2019. “People are realising just how fabulous it is. You get to some very remote places and the only way to get there is by ship,” says Virtuoso Global Cruise ambassador and managing director of Gregor & Lewis, Melinda Gregor. As well as Antarctica, other population destinations include the Arctic, Papua New Guinea and surrounding islands.
But it’s not only cruisers seeking more adventure. Jonathan Alsberghe, from Sky High Wilderness Ranch in the Yukon, says travel to the Canadian territory in winter is becoming more popular. “People are looking to disconnect from this fast-paced world and trying to reconnect with essentials like nature and the land,” he says.
After years chasing that mystical Qantas Chairman’s Lounge pass (or, at the least, coveted platinum status), 2025 will be the year many travellers will become disillusioned with loyalty and frequent-flyer programs in favour of their bank balance.
“Attitudes changed during the pandemic,” explains Finder’s Angus Kidman. “There was suddenly this sense of ‘they didn’t look out for me and I’m now going to look out for what’s best for me’.” Fittingly, travellers are increasingly opting to book the best deals rather than making decisions based on building status.
Below the surface
Jerry Witkowski, GM of Sydney-based Dive Adventures, has a hot tip for underwater destination of the year – Palau. Qantas is launching a weekly direct flight from Brisbane, which Witkowski says will put it on the map. “It’s in the middle of the ocean and there’s no pollution.”
Overnight cruise sensations
With more cruise companies offering itineraries that include overnight stays in a destination or late departures, there’s more chance for deeper experiences in a town or city.
Hotel merch
Collabs between style and travel are taking off. Last year, Rosewood London partnered with British designer Anya Hindmarch to create a limited-edition pie-themed keyring in honour of the hotel’s dining spot, The Pie Room. Closer to home, refurbed Byron Bay bolthole Raes on Wategos has unveiled a resort wear collection with Aussie brand Matteau.
Written by Kelli Armstrong, Andrea Black, John Burfitt, Jeremy Drake, Jennifer Ennion, Jenny Hewett, Alex McClintock & Kirrily Schwarz
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