Amadeus: These are the 5 biggest travel trends for 2025

A new trend study from leading travel technology provider Amadeus reveals five key trends that will change the travel landscape in 2025.

The study, which was based on Amadeus data and Globetrender’s travel trend forecasts, highlighted the following trends for 2025...

- New heyday | Nostalgia is fueling the “new heyday” trend, with the past taking center stage. From the return of 90s movies and CDs to Gen Z’s love of digital cameras, modern culture is embracing retro.

When it comes to travel, adults are looking to relive lost years, distant honeymoons, and childhood dreams – Airbnb has launched a Polly Pocket-inspired rental, for example – and American travelers are flocking to Miami, the hotspot of the “Miami Vice” era.

As millennials enter middle age, we’ll see a resurgence of classic RV and camping vacations. Eurocamp is predicting a huge surge in bookings, with 2024 shaping up to be its best year in five decades. In the US, adult summer camps are also booming, with Club Getaway reporting a 9% increase in adult revenue in 2024 compared to 2023.

-Personalized Flights | In 2025, air travel will reach new heights of personalization, combining smart technology with personalized in-flight experiences. While many passengers are already consuming content from their own devices, airlines are increasing interest by combining algorithmic entertainment with hyper-personalized in-flight systems that deliver new content – ​​from movies and TV shows to ads and products for purchase – that is tailored to the individual traveler based on their past preferences, such as loyalty program membership.

With high-speed Wi-Fi from providers like SpaceX’s Starlink now available, passengers can watch their favorite content in-flight as if they were at home. We may also see airlines increasingly lending virtual reality headsets to first and business-class passengers – in 2024, premium airline startup Beond began offering Apple Vision Pro to passengers on its Maldives route.

-Innovative hotels | In 2025, hotels will make headlines as they increasingly become destinations in their own right, introducing guests to the local culture, history, and natural beauty of their surroundings. For example, guests will have the opportunity to be enchanted by the restored Mozambiquan Dhows at Jannah Lamu in Kenya or the Maryhill Estate in Sweden.

While many pioneering hotels are independently owned, some are part of larger chains. Hotels opening in 2025 include Hard Rock’s Reverb Hamburg, which opened in a World War II-era bunker; Bunkhouse Hotels in the U.S., known for creating unforgettable boutique experiences with flagships in Texas, California, and Kentucky; and Marriott International’s Edition Lake Como, housed in a 19th-century Italian villa. Major hotel groups are also adapting, launching curated boutique collections such as Accor’s Handwritten Collection, which is expected to include more than 17 hotels worldwide by 2025.

-The Rise of Asia | After years of travel restrictions, travelers are once again excited about exploring Asia’s cultural treasures. China is opening its doors to millions of visitors by expanding visa-free travel, while Thailand’s new visas for digital nomads and a broader visa-free program for 93 countries are set to attract a global audience.

Pop culture is also gaining traction, with the upcoming season of The White Lotus set in Thailand, the second season of Squid Game expected to boost travel to South Korea, and a renewed interest in Japanese history thanks to the television series Shōgun. In addition, Iberia recently launched direct flights between Madrid and Tokyo, making it easier than ever for travelers to explore Japan.

Over the next 15 years, IATA predicts that Asia-Pacific will see the fastest growth in passenger numbers, contributing to more than half of the net increase in global passenger numbers by 2043. Amadeus data reflects this momentum as outbound travel from Chengdu, China, increased by 66% from 2016 to 2023 to 35.2 million passengers, while outbound travel from Guangzhou increased by 20%. Delhi also saw a 31% increase with over 30 million outbound passengers in 2023.

- Real-life connections | Having faced... digital fatigue, travelers are closing their apps and opening their passports, using travel to make new friends and even find romance in real life.

According to Amadeus booking data, solo leisure travel in 2023 increased by 15.6% compared to the previous year, with a further 9.2% increase so far in 2024. The 2025 trend report predicts a wave of group and solo adventures designed to spark genuine connections, from G Adventures’ “Solo-ish” trips aimed at combating loneliness, to TimeLeft, an app for travelers that lets them meet five strangers for dinner every Wednesday that operates in more than 60 countries. Socially-oriented festival tourism is also on the rise, with members of the LGBTQ+ community gathering in Washington for World Pride 2025.

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