Travel Trends 2025

Explore Worldwide

Travel Trends

Report

Explore Worldwide's annual Travel Trends Report has landed, exposing where, when and how we'll be travelling in 2025. Explore sends travellers to every corner of the globe in search of enriching once-in-a-lifetime experiences and, with 43 years in the business, is well placed to spot trends and behaviour change (as relates to travel) as it happens.

Here, the company's experienced experts delve into search data, booking patterns and customer queries to provide an adventure travel outlook for the year ahead. From cool-cations to dark skies, extended sabbaticals to literary-inspired holidays: what's hot for 2025?

1. The rise of the cool-cation

With repeated record-breaking temperatures over the last three years, Google Trends has shown a 300% increase in searches for 'cooler holidays' in the last 12 months. Traditionally colder destinations - like Iceland, the Baltic States and Scandinavia - are selling well for Explore, as well as polar expeditions, which are up 32% in the last six months.

New for 2025 are two European walking tours that offer beautiful rugged landscapes and more temperate climes for walkers: a walking tour of Northern Ireland and Donegal that combines scenic walks with authentic Irish experiences, from whiskey tasting to a sheepdog demonstation, and Walking in the Faroe Islands, which includes the breathtaking landscapes of six Faroese islands.

A new Sapporo Snow Festival tour of Japan offers a chance to see a lesser-known side of this captivating destination, including Sapporo and Hokkaido, away from the crowds and at a quieter time of year.

Meanwhile, traditional summer destinations like Turkey, Greece and Croatia are temperate well into the winter months. Croatian walking holidays have a long season spanning April to October, while Western Turkey can be enjoyed year-round.

Having developed a version of its bestselling Amalfi Coast walking tour to run off-season, Product Director Rachael Stone says: "this trip includes all the adored highlights of the Amalfi Coast but stays in the coastal resort of Maiori and focuses on the lower coastal area, as well as the iconic Walk of the Gods. Maiori has a population of just 5,500, and having fewer crowds and lower costs is a big plus for many, while cooler days make for excellent walking conditions".

2. Set-jetting

Another emerging travel trend for 2025 is 'set-jetting', with travellers inspired to visit a destination because of a book, movie or TV series they've enjoyed. From Paddington in Peru and Gladiator 2 to White Lotus (Series 3) to Letters From Everest by George Mallory and Tom Newton Dunn, recent and upcoming releases are sure to inspire future travel.

And, with the launch of its Four Corners Book Club earlier this month, Team Explore got a peek between the covers of British travellers' reading habits. A NatRep survey carried out by the company found that 70% of us are more likely to read while on holiday, while 72% have visited or considered visiting a place after reading a novel set there. The same survey unveiled the most inspiring literary locations for 2025, with the top five destinations comprising Italy, USA, Scotland, Japan and Australia.

3. The radical sabbatical

Fewer and fewer young adults are taking a Gap Year before or after university, choosing to get straight into study or work. And with rumours of future Budgets targeting pensions and tax free pension draw-downs, we may soon see the decline in the big post-retirement trip, too.

What's more, workplaces are increasingly offering extended sabbaticals and workations as perks, cementing the 'perfect storm' for the mid-life adventure.

Increasingly, we're seeing mid-lifers opting to take extended breaks from work in the middle of their careers to travel. With the average career now 40+ years, people are less inclined to wait four decades to take those extended adventures.

Workers in search of a radical sabbatical might consider a three-week adventure that combines the Baltic States with Slovenia's Alpine Lakes to visit the medieval towns and UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, before soaking up the alpine beauty and glacial lakes of Slovenia.

Or plan the trip of a lifetime and spend a month in Indonesia, combining a fortnight exploring exotic Bali and Java with an off-the-beaten path trip to Flores and Komodo.

4. Astrotourism

The unique opportunity (whether realised or missed) to see the Northern Lights in the UK this summer has sparked increased desire to witness this natural phenomenon. Iceland and Finnish Lapland are two destinations offering great chances to see the Aurora for yourself, but Explore has also introduced a new walking holiday in the Faroe Islands for 2025. Here, winter days have just five hours of sunlight, and the lack of light pollution make these skies a great contender for Aurora watching.

Elsewhere, stargazing experiences continue to delight - with desert camps in Jordan and Oman and stargazing opportunities in Canada and Argentina among sought-after dark skies experiences for 2025.

Psst! Keep an eye out for upcoming new tours to take in solar eclipses in 2026...

5. A change >> a rest

We know that changing our routine can be as good as a rest, but in this world of busy schedules, 'always-on', overthinking brains and seemingly endless newsfeeds of doom, finding time to relax and reflect isn't always the tonic we hope for.

Instead, engaging in something completely removed from our day-to-day routine can enable us to break free of unhelpful thinking patterns and leave us feeling refreshed and reinvigorated. In 2025, find that joie-de-vivre by trying a new skill or activity. Our foodie exploration of Turkey makes a great change from a beach holiday, while an Active Sri Lanka tour sees you paddle boarding, rafting and joining a jeep safari between visits to spectacular sites and temples.

6. Elevated experiences

According to Vertical Leap, more travellers are searching for budget-luxury travel through 'elevated, impactful experiences'. As well as bucketlist sights and life-affirming experiences, Explore's new Upgraded collection includes stays in hand-picked, premium accommodation providing extra comfort at the end of each day's exploring.

Travellers looking for an extra special experience in 2025 might consider the Upgraded Rome and Umbria tour, which includes stunning hilltop accommodation set amongst olive groves, or Upgraded Discover Peru, which travels from Lake Titicaca to Cusco via a panoramic train ride, complete with a three-course lunch onboard.

Where we're travelling...

South Korea

Wanderlust Magazine's Destination of the Year for 2024, South Korea is really hitting the zeitgeist right now, and influencing everything from cuisine, K-dramas and K-pop sensations to world-renowned skincare. Explore's new Discover South Korea trip, available from April 2025, harnesses this demand in a 12-day cultural highlights itinerary.

This is a country as much about buzzing modern culture and delicious food as it is the ancient temples and stunning natural landscapes - and our trip covers both. We're expecting Hallyu ('the Korean Wave') to reach new heights for 2025.

Albania

Explore's bookings to Albania are up 68% in the last six months compared with the same period last year, with active tours to the country (walking and cycling itineraries) selling particularly strongly. Visits to Albania trip pages have climbed 67% this year, and the company has increased capacity on all its tours - including the new-for-2024 Family Albania Adventure - in anticipation of even more demand for 2025.

Explore's Product Manager for Europe, Nadine Cullen, says: "Albania really has something for everyone. For a while it's been dubbed 'the new Croatia' and it certainly has the scenery, coastlines and delicious food, but it has its own unique charm too - not to mention fewer crowds and lower prices!"

West Africa

West Africa saw a 42% growth this year with Explore's tours in Senegal & the Gambia, the Ivory Coast and Benin & Togo all selling strongly. Benin and Senegal make up two of the five fastest-growing destinations of the last six months, up 68% and 52% respectively.

New for 2025 is a dedicated two-week Ghana tour, packed with cultural experiences: meeting village chiefs, visiting one of West Africa’s biggest markets and learning about the powerful Ashanti Kingdom in Kumasi. Explore's Product Director forecasts further growth for this fascinating region of Africa in 2025: "Ghana is a really captivating and underrated destination, so vibrant and rich in culture, and so warm and welcoming. There are very few operators currently selling Ghana, but it's a country with huge potential."

Central Asia

The British Museum's blockbuster Silk Road exhibition (running until February 2025) inspired Explore's biggest ever digital event in October 2024, with over 1,000 people attending from around the world.

"It's clear that there's a huge amount of interest in Central Asia and the Silk Road at the moment" says Explore Asia Programme Manager James Adkin. "This is a region that holds a lot of interest, culturally and historically, and it's an area that really grabs hold of people - once you've visited a pocket of Central Asia you just want to go back and see more, and more."

Bookings to Uzbekistan are up 52% on last year, while Georgia bookings have increased by 31% in the same period. Watch Explore's Silk Road Secrets digital showcase here.

How we're travelling

With sensitivity to cost

It's a price-conscious market, and many travellers are booking further ahead of time - to guarantee current pricing, and to spread the costs out. Early booking has the additional benefit of prolonging the anticipation, with many travellers seeing the build up and anticipation as a key part of the pleasure of travel.

Travellers are on the lookout for fantastic value, and opting for tours with plenty of inclusions, from additional meals to excursions and activities. Small group tours are designed with this in mind, to include all the must sees and some meals and extras, to ensure maximum enjoyment and value for money.

Sustainably

Sustainable travel is going nowhere. A recent report from Skift explained sustainable travel as a "less flashy way of viewing and traveling the world . . . with an emphasis on safety, sustainability, and profound experiences while getting from point A to B without wrecking the climate and local quality of life in the process”.

As a B Corp organisation, Explore continues to drive down carbon across its carbon and operations. New trips for 2025 include a slow-paced, overland trip to Everest Base Camp with no internal flights, and a foodie tour of Greece that travels by ferry and incorporates a whole lot of delicious local and seasonal food.

Read Explore's newly-released Purpose Paper for 2024 here, which outlines the B Corp certified company's progress against its sustainability goals and its upcoming targets.

For more information, contact Explore’s PR Coordinator Caroline Hook, caroline.hook@explore.co.uk or Senior PR & Communications Manager Laura Dewar, laura.dewar@explore.co.uk

About Explore: Explore has over 40 years’ experience in creating expert-led small group tours all over the world. Tours that are all about getting under the skin of your destination: making friends, treading lightly, and being mindful of local communities. With more than 350 trips in 100 countries, the company offers everything from classic cultural holidays and wildlife safaris to walking and cycling trips, family adventures and even polar expeditions.

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