With a new year arriving, our thoughts turn to 2025 getaways – and the emerging global trends that will influence the way we travel. These are the travel trends that experts are predicting for 2025.
Including places to add to your radar, as well as insight into not just where but how we’ll be travelling this year, Scott Dunn’s global team of travel experts have the insider track on what’s hot for 2025 (and plenty of data to back it up).
In partnership with Scott Dunn.
How will we be travelling in 2025?
Exploring off-the-beaten-track has been a key factor on traveller’s wish lists for a few years but, with increasing over-tourism as well as a growing focus on sustainability, trips away from the tourist hotspots are going to be more popular than ever this year. This will manifest in various ways: travelling outside of peak season or journeying deeper into a country or region, for example.
As Ali Holman, Scott Dunn’s Destination Manager for Africa & Wildlife, emphasises, “privacy and sustainable tourism have become top priorities for travellers, meaning guests are pivoting to less-crowded regions.”
Continent by continent, these are Scott Dunn’s travel predictions for 2025.
Africa
The Trends: Off-Season Travel and Lesser-Explored Destinations
Safari season is shifting; the most popular month to spot the big five is historically December but, with climates changing, the best time to jump in a jeep is extending into the new year, with March more popular than ever. Matt Shock, Scott Dunn’s Senior Africa Travel Specialist, confirms this, saying that “travelling during less popular months can be just as incredible, if not more so. Plus, it’s often more affordable and less crowded, making for a unique and memorable experience.” Likewise, travellers will be seeking out destinations away from other tourists, with increased interest in second cities, more remote regions and lesser-explored islands.
The Destinations: Morocco’s Second Cities, Northern Kenya, the Islands of East Africa
Morocco’s Second Cities
Casablanca, Morocco
Playing into the fact that travellers want to explore away from the crowds, Morocco’s second cities are predicted to rise in popularity this year. Add to this multiple new hotel openings across the country (Royal Mansour Casablanca; Four Seasons Rabat; La Fiermontina Ocean near Tangier) and Morocco-beyond-Marrakech is set to shine in 2025. This is particularly important in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, following the region’s rebuilding efforts after the September 2023 earthquake – support local communities in the region by staying at one of Kasbah Tamadot’s brand new riads.
Northern Kenya
Away from Kenya’s hotspot safari destinations, thrilling experiences await. Move over Maasai Mara, in 2025 Northern Kenya is gearing up for its time in the spotlight. And with exclusive excursions such as helicopter adventures over the Great Rift Valley and fly camping at Ol Malo lodge, it’s no wonder.
The Islands of East Africa
With the renovation and reopening of Madagascar’s Voaara and Zanzibar’s andBeyond Mnemba Island, plus a new luxury yacht by Aqua Expeditions setting sail around the Seychelles’ Aldabra islands in December 2025, the east African islands look to be one of the continent’s most in-demand locations this year. Even better – getting to them will be easier than ever too, thanks to new direct flight routes into the Seychelles from both Emirates and Turkish Airlines.
Asia
Shangri-La, Yunnan Province, China
The Trend: Cultural Experiences
As we collectively try to step out of our comfort zones in search of more enriching experiences, certain destinations – those rich with lesser-explored traditions and history – are beginning to prove more popular. As noted by Simon Lynch, Scott Dunn’s Global Product & Strategy Director, “guests are increasingly looking for alternatives to Japan.” Of course, in Asia there are plenty of places that not only offer opportunity to delve into local cultures and traditions, but that do so with an incredible value for money too.
The Destinations: Southwest China, Sri Lanka and Thailand
The numbers don’t lie: Scott Dunn has seen a huge increase in China bookings during 2024 – up 400 per cent globally and 600 per cent in the UK. Sri Lanka and Thailand bookings increased too. All three of these Asian countries offer an abundance of history, traditions and stunning natural beauty, but Scott Dunn’s Active China itinerary is the one to book for a true adventure: you’ll trek the Tiger Leaping Gorge, soak up the folklore of the Dali Kingdom and its people, and explore the myths, legends and see-it-to-believe-it beauty of Shangri-La. According to Lynch, Yunnan is the Chinese province to watch (and visit) this year, “bolstered by new infrastructure and investment in high-speed rail routes along the Yunnan-Tibet Railway, cutting down regional travel times significantly.”
Australasia
Zebedee Springs, the Kimberley, Australia
The Trend: Discovery, Immersion and Transformation
Perhaps in response to our ever more digital world, off-grid experiences as well as immersion in local culture have become key for travellers, who are often keen for such experiences to transform them in some way too. You only have to look at the number of people who are choosing to take experiential trips – be it wellness, culinary or culture focussed. In Australia, this takes the form of connecting with First Nations People, the oldest community on the planet, as well as venturing into untouched landscapes.
The Destination: The Kimberley and The Northern Territories
Away from Sydney’s cosmopolitan atmosphere, or Melbourne’s café culture, Australia’s north west is an area of untouched landscapes and truly unique topography – dramatic rock formations, tropical savannahs and gushing waterfalls. “Isolated yet beautiful,” as Ellen Fraser, Scott Dunn’s Senior Travel Specialist for Australia and Asia describes them, continuing to say that these regions “offer a distinctively new perspective to the classic trip down under.” Fraser recommends you take the Paspaley Pearl boutique expedition cruise by Ponant through the Kimberley, an ancient and remote region dotted with mangrove forests and wild rivers, and, unsurprisingly, teeming with wildlife too – including the world’s largest living reptile, the saltwater crocodile.
Europe
Nuuk, Greenland
The Trends: ‘Cool-Cationing’ and Eclipse Chasing
Year after year we hear stories of overcrowded, overheated European cities – feeding into an overarching trend in the changing of seasonality – i.e. when people are travelling (consider visiting Greece in late September rather than August, for example). But it’s not only when we’re travelling that’s changing, but where we’re travelling to escape hotter climates, too – dubbed ‘cool-cationing’ to describe those seeking out more friendly summer temperatures. Eclipse chasing and stargazing have both become increasingly popular as well, and often the two trends go hand-in-hand.
The Destinations: Greenland’s High Arctic, Norway and Finland
Fjord in Norway
Scott Dunn saw a 26 per cent rise in bookings to Norway and Finland from those looking for cooler climates during summer 2024, and believes we’ll see similar in 2025 – which leads Delphine Combes, Scott Dunn’s Destination Manager for Northern Europe, to surmise that “Scandinavian summer is not just a passing trend, but now a perennial favourite.” In Greenland’s High Arctic, ‘cool-cationing’ is not only taken to the extreme, but meets another trend – eclipse chasing – and it’s one of the best spots to witness the 2026 Total Solar Eclipse, thanks to its remote, light-pollution-free location. See it in style on an eclipse-viewing expedition cruise.
The Americas:
The Trend: All-In-One Getaways
There’s a rise in popularity of all-inclusive holidays, which saw bookings rise 24 per cent during 2024. But forget any notion of flying, flopping, and eating from a buffet – the all-inclusive offering has changed, and today also includes wellness retreats, safari adventures and boutique cruises. But all-in-one can go further than even this: many travellers – and especially families – are seeking out not only hotels with it all, but destinations with it all: good food, adventure activities, pampering opportunities and high-end accommodation, to name just a few.
Baja, Mexico
The Destinations: Baja Peninsula and Riviera Nayarit, Mexico
Mexico as a whole has seen a 53 per cent rise in interest from UK holidaymakers. The reason for its popularity? Its do-it-all and have-it-all nature: luxury and boutique hotels – tick; arts and culture – tick; delicious home-grown food – tick; seaside adventures – tick. The list goes on. But – and in keeping with trends across other global destinations – it’s the lesser-explored regions of Mexico that are set to trend in 2025. The Baja Peninsula, for example, which, as well as seeing new hotel openings (Chablé Sea of Cortéz, 2024; Amanvari, 2025; Milaroca, A Belmond Hotel, 2027) also offers beach days, high-adrenaline activities, art and architecture, plenty of history, wining and dining – and lots more. Plus, as Sophie Tomlin, Scott Dunn’s Destination Manager for Latin America explains, from the Baja Peninsula you can sail to “Isla Espiritu Santo, known as the ‘the Galapagos of Mexico’, to swim with seals, whale sharks, and glamp on deserted beaches,” while nearby is Todos Santos, a “cool beach town with trendy boutique hotels, art galleries, and a designated ‘Pueblo Magico’.
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