Get ready, because the future of travel just landed. We dug deep into millions of reviews, bookings, and convos on Tripadvisor to uncover the micro-trends and massive cultural swings that are rewriting the ways we go. Our first-ever Trendcast captures it all—it’s the ultimate pulse check on where travelers are now and what’ll be driving them forward for years to come.
Waterculturalism
Travelers are turning to water as a way to relax, heal, and tap into a deeper connection with nature.
Water has always been our happy place—whether it’s ocean waves, infinity pools, or a bracing ice plunge. But now, our connection with H₂O is going deeper, shifting into social playgrounds and adventure frontiers.
Ancient bathing rituals like hammams and onsens have brought people together for centuries, but the scene is evolving. In South Korea and China, modern bathhouses are becoming the ultimate hangout spots for Gen Z and millennials. At Shanghai’s Shangyin Shenghuo Shui, group water-therapy sessions flow into karaoke, gaming, and movie nights. Even traditional water activities are being reimagined. Dive operators like Original Diving are transforming underwater adventures into shared conservation missions: planting coral in the Philippines, tracking seahorses off Mozambique, and building reef highways in Fiji.
Share of mentions in Tripadvisor reviews and forums are on the rise since last year:
Bookings on Tripadvisor are up, too, since 2022:
Go below the surface
Play it Forward
The rise of happiness-hacking holidays is allowing adults to embrace a sense of play out in the world.
No surprises here: We've been through a lot in the last five years. But grown-up problems don't always require grown-up solutions. Play is our new travel remedy, and we're not leaving all the fun to kids anymore. We'll still take the poolside lounging, but the desire for dopamine hits is opening up new worlds of connection and creativity.
We're diving into the ball pool at Brisbane's multisensory Dopamine Land and tackling the moon bounce Ninja Warrior-style at Luxor Hotel & Casino's Play Playground (after a cocktail or two). In Boston, F1 fans can hop in the driver’s seat and take a few high-speed laps around the track with F1 Arcade’s full-motion racing simulators. Even fine dining is loosening its tie a bit: At Germany's Eatrenalin, floating dining chairs take guests on a literal tasting journey through themed rooms—from an underwater umami experience to a spice-filled launch into outer space.
Bookings on Tripadvisor for adult play activities increased over the last year:
Camps and classes for grown-ups
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Written in the Stars
Thanks to witchtok and astrology in the mainstream, spiritual experiences are helping more of us find community and a sense of purpose in the universe.
Gather your energy: Spiritual practices like Tarot card readings and horoscopes are no longer at-home activities—they're driving travel decisions and reshaping destinations. In this “now age” spirituality, ancient practices are merging with modern wellness, feeding our curiosity about worlds seen and unseen.
And hotels are fully embracing it. The Standard in London has rolled out monthly zodiac retreats, matching travelers with experiences tailored to their sign—whether you’re a Cancer in for a moonlit meditation or a Gemini exploring a chart reading—as well as one-on-one sessions with an astrologer. At Costa Navarino's Mandarin Oriental, crystal healing readings have claimed their spot on the spa menu alongside traditional massages. And even ancient sites are getting the cosmic treatment, with astrologer-led tours in sacred spots like Stonehenge and the Pyramids on the rise and solstice festivals in Finland and Australia turning seasonal shifts into full-blown celebrations of renewal.
Tripadvisor bookings are also up over the last two years for activities that mention:
Share of mentions in Tripadvisor reviews and forums have gone up in the last year:
Your spiritual journey starts here
New ‘Moons
Beyond honeymoons and babymoons, travelers now have a bunch of new reasons to celebrate with trips.
These aren’t the same vacays you grew up on—we’re shaking things up and reimagining who we travel with and why. It’s a way to celebrate the relationships and milestones that matter most to us, no matter where we are in life. Big changes to traditional family structures are ushering in different ways to explore the world.
DINKs (Double Income, No Kids) are living it up on “bestiemoons,” like Mi Casa’s Friendship Cruise from Cape Town, where they’re setting sail with their ride-or-die crew. Retirees are taking “retiremoons,” making new connections on epic trips like hiking along the Camino de Santiago. And don’t forget the "-versaries"—they’re having a moment, too. Sober-versaries are being toasted with mocktails at hot spots like Zeroliq in Berlin, while divorcees are experiencing newfound freedom with solo island getaways and beauty-inspired escapes with their favorite people (see also: our #11 trend, Beauty Voyagers).
Share of mentions in Tripadvisor reviews and forums for non-traditional milestones is on the rise since last year:
Ways to mark the occasion
Dynamically Sensorial
As people look for new ways to escape, we’re turning to fully immersive experiences that surprise the five senses.
The old vacation playbook—beach, book, repeat—isn't quite doing it anymore. As post-pandemic travelers, we’re seeking deeper connections with our surroundings (and ourselves). What we want is visceral: the gritty massage of sand between our toes, the sound of tide-pool bubbles, the smell of citrus orchards—and yes, precious hours away from our screens.
And the travel industry gets it. Hotels, spas, and cultural venues are delivering immersive experiences that tap into every sense. Take forest bathing in the Amazon, where local guides help you discover the patterns of ancient ceiba trees and the electric flash of morpho butterflies' wings. Or the intersection of scent and art at New York's Olfactory Art Keller, where each exhibition comes with its own carefully crafted fragrance. Or dining blindfolded at luxury hotels and destinations restaurants, where darkness heightens every flavor and texture.
Since 2022, Tripadvisor bookings for attractions with these keywords have grown in popularity:
Round out all five senses
Global Gaming
E-sports tournaments and fantasy worlds based on real places are translating into IRL trips.
Gaming is creating a whole new category of destination travel. With more than 3 billion online gamers worldwide, we're not just playing in digital worlds anymore—we're traveling to experience them in real life. Picture this: You're trekking through ancient temples in China's Shanxi province, and it hits you–this is exactly like the backdrop of action RPG Black Myth: Wukong. Or maybe you're exploring Iceland's Breidamerkurjokull glacier, where the ice caves and frozen landscapes feel like you've walked straight into your favorite fantasy realm.
Hotels get it, too. After a day wandering Chengdu's streets, you can retreat to the Jichang E-Sports Hotel for a Fortnite session in your room. Even major gaming tournaments are becoming travel destinations in their own right—when the League of Legends World Championship hit Seoul, tickets vanished within minutes as gamers hopped planes to watch their heroes battle it out in person.
The week after the release of Black Myth: Wukong saw higher page traffic than the previous year:
The Fortnite World Championships in Fort Worth led to increased international clicks to book:
Beyond just barcades
Investigative Eating
Learning where our food comes from is becoming part of our itineraries, from farm stays to restaurants that prioritize sustainability.
While we know farm-to-table isn’t a new idea, now we’re seeing its next evolution. We’re taking a closer look, respectfully, and getting a first-hand understanding of where our food comes from and how it’s made. We’re taking “steak-cations” to destination restaurants like Don Julio in Argentina for sustainably-raised steak, then making our way to working estancias to learn how gauchos manage grassland cattle ranches. Or we’re joining local fishermen in Japan on their daily runs to catch that night’s dinner, and learning to make kimchi in Korean homes.
What’s more, farm stays are moving beyond providing just rustic-chic vibes—travelers are now timing their visits to take part in seasonal events like maple syrup tapping in Vermont or mushroom hunting in Oregon. Indigenous food experiences are on the rise, too—from learning about bush tucker (native foods) from Aboriginal guides in Australia to harvesting wild rice with Native American communities in Minnesota.
Share of mentions in Tripadvisor reviews and forums are up since last year:
Bookings on Tripadvisor for farm tours and tastings have been on the rise since 2022:
Go right to the source
Family Vacays 2.0
The future of family travel is more accessible, intentional, and enjoyable than ever—for the whole family.
We’ll never stop hauling our kids around the globe (they'll thank us later), but long gone are the days of parking the kids at the pool and jetting off for adults-only activities. Now, there’s something everyone can get on board with—whether that’s totally reimagined kids’ clubs or fun (yes, genuine fun) activities for all generations.
Throw on an apron for a Thai cooking class at The Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok, or get a crash course in chocolate-making at their sister hotel in Paris. Or better yet, take the whole crew out on the water in an outrigger canoe in Maui, with local instructors who weave together technique with history and culture. Then, when the grown-ups are ready for some zzz’s, that’s where the new-and-improved kids’ clubs come in: Hyatt Place’s “Adventure Zones” offer interactive digital games that get kids moving, and their “Junior Scientists” program lets kids perform experiments (supervised, of course) while learning about local ecosystems.
Share of mentions for family-focused amenities on Tripadvisor increased over the last year:
Since 2022, bookings for kids’ activities are up, too:
All-in on all-family fun
Nano Neighborhoods
Instead of maxing out their itineraries, travelers are going deeper into single destinations, taking it one block at a time.
Once upon a time, it was all about crossing off the big-ticket items—hitting every arrondissement in Paris, checking off the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Sacré-Cœur. But now? Travelers are slowing down and taking in one neighborhood at a time. Overtourism and a hunger to have real, authentic experiences are driving us to zoom in on single neighborhoods (even streets!) to find the stuff you can’t get in the guide books.
We’re plotting new routes to up-and-coming areas like Cape Town’s industrial East City, where trendy co-working spaces and grungy dive bars hug the same street corners. And travelers are leaning into hyper-specific itineraries, sometimes narrowing in on a single strip—take Park Slope, Brooklyn’s own 5th Ave, which trades in the high-end fashion houses of that other 5th Ave for more humble comic book stores (plus a NSFW romance book store) and community-centered spaces from queer bars to sports bars.
Neighborhood attraction pages on Tripadvisor are getting more attention over the last year:
Let’s give undertourism a try
Solo-Social
A new way of going solo is here, focusing more on making meaningful connections wherever you are.
Solo travel isn't just circumstantial anymore—it's aspirational. We're exploring alone but staying connected, turning our solo adventures into shared experiences. We're getting smarter about mixing me-time with we-time, using social media to find our people IRL (“Art lovers in Florence, meet me at the Uffizi at 3?”). Apps like Wanderlog, Rome2Rio, and Meetup—and Tripadvisor, of course—are helping us do things like plan itineraries, find local activities, and even connect with our travel twins on the road.
Finally, the rest of the industry is catching up with solo travelers’ needs (think: studio cabins on Norwegian Cruise Lines or solo-friendly menus at hot restaurants), so they’re free to chat up other diners at the bar or pop up to the main deck to get in tight with the reigning limbo champs.
Solo travelers are more likely to mention socializing in their reviews:
Where to start when you’re flying solo
Beauty Voyagers
Beauty-minded travelers are making trips out of far-off treatments—seeking out local rituals and cutting-edge new technologies.
It’s the next evolution of self-care: Travelers are centering entire trips around beauty treatments you can't get anywhere else. We care about the ingredients in our products, and want to learn about skincare routines around the world that make us look and feel better.
We’ll travel to places like Morocco, where hotel spas like La Mamounia incorporate centuries-old ingredients such as black soap and argan oil, or South Korea where ginseng and snail mucin are as common as daily sunscreen (but we never forget the SPF, of course). And we want to travel with other beauty enthusiasts, so we’re bringing along our closest crew or joining tours like Around the World Beauty, with trips to India, Marrakesh, NYC, and Costa Rica (their 2025 CR excursion includes a Temescal Beauty Ritual to learn about the art of purification and the healing power of herbs).
The share of mentions for treatments on Tripadvisor is on the rise this year:
Beauty bookings on Tripadvisor are also up:
Where to take your self care-cation
Sports Trek
New ways of playing—and enjoying—sports are giving us
new reasons to follow our passions around the globe.
The sports obsession is real. Whether we're chasing quiet moments on a paddleboard, seeking adrenaline rushes at 10,000 feet, or traveling cross-continent to cheer on our team, travelers are going all in. Mega-events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup across the U.S. and the 2026 Olympics in the Italian Alps aren't just competitions anymore—they're launching pads for deeper exploration of host cities and cultures. (And we’re booking them now.)
But it's not all about watching from the sidelines. Tour operators are crafting next-level adventures for the thrill-seekers: in heli-hiking, helicopters drop hikers at remote alpine trails too spectacular (and inaccessible) for regular trekkers, while seawalking takes underwater explorers in helmets to walk with marine life on the ocean floor. It's the ultimate quest for bragging rights–or just our growing need to push limits.
Tripadvisor pages with games or matches grew faster than the average attraction:
Bookings for niche sports and activities also grew over the last two years:
Book before the big game
Time Tripping
Time is meaningless, as it
turns out, and travelers
are taking advantage of an increasingly clock-and-calendar-free world.
We're kissing the 9-to-5, two-weeks-PTO life goodbye (and not looking back). Thanks to flexible work, time has new meaning for travelers. We're hitting early-morning raves and stopping by the Eiffel Tower for a crowd-free selfie after the bars close. We’re heading to Lapland to max out the midnight sun with nighttime swims and solstice celebrations.
And thankfully, the industry is in on it. The Nautilus Maldives has thrown out the clock entirely—no schedules, no closing times. Roll in after a delayed flight for a 2 a.m. deep-tissue massage, or hit up the restaurant because it’s still open and order pancakes for dinner. The entire concept of “off season” has gone out the window, too. Now, any time is a good time to go: Trade in your skis for hiking boots in the Swiss Alps or swap glacier tours for beach days in Reykjavik—it’s an opportunity to discover something new in a place you’ve been a million times.
Reviews where travelers mention flexible hours are growing faster year-over-year than overall reviews:
After-hours escapades
Slow Going
Eco-conscious travelers are choosing to take the long
way—all to slow down and
enjoy the journey.
Slow travel isn't just an eco-friendly alternative to flying—it's becoming the main event. While companies with employee benefits like Climate Perks are offering extra days off for “responsible travel time,” we're also discovering that the scenic route just hits different. We're taking the Glacier Express through the Swiss Alps, where floor-to-ceiling windows frame snow-capped peaks, or island-hopping through the Greek Cyclades on Star Clippers' four-masted Star Flyer to really unplug.
The journey itself is the new destination. Whether it's winding through Japan on a sleeper train watching cherry blossoms blur past your window, or hiking Portugal's Rota Vicentina from fishing village to fishing village, we're trading quick connections for a more unhurried, unbothered experience. It’s all about the art of getting there.
Bookings for train-related Things to Do have gone up since 2022:
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The Tripadvisor Trendcast is rooted in Tripadvisor's global user behavior, based on the millions of travelers who use our site, as of January 2025. To uncover this year’s travel trends, we turned to all the insights we have readily available on Tripadvisor: scouring the conversations happening in the forums and reviews, checking lifts in bookings, clicks, and page views, and tracking all the major shifts that have occurred over the last two years. We also worked with trend forecasters—together, we dove into traveler behavior beyond Tripadvisor’s site in order to create a more complete picture of what the future of travel will look like.