These Are the Biggest Travel Trends of 2025, According to Expedia

The term “destination dupe” — referring to places that look and feel similar to a more expensive location — was everywhere this year. And you have Expedia’s annual travel trends report to thank. The phrase was coined in 2023 by the online booking behemoth.

For 2025, Expedia is back with its travel predictions, combining a vast trove of first-party booking data across Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo with consumer responses from 25,000 consumers. Think of it as a peek into what will define the travel landscape in the year ahead.

“I’ve been tracking travel trends for eight years and this year, more than ever before, is about experiences as much as places,” Melanie Fish, chief trend tracker for Expedia Brands, told Travel + Leisure.

Here’s some of what to expect in travel, according to Fish.

Getting Away For the ‘Goods’

Popular TikTok videos have influenced travelers for years, but now, the trend is spreading even further. Expedia coins it “Goods Getaways.”

The company says travelers are making extra space in their carry-ons, and even creating entire vacations around getting goods, like a viral chocolate bar from Dubai or skincare from South Korea.

“Social media has also inspired travelers to visit local grocery stores when they’re traveling, like Erewhon in LA for their celeb-approved smoothies,” Fish noted. Global Expedia Group survey data revealed that 39 percent of travelers visit grocery stores or supermarkets when vacationing while 44 percent shop for local goods they can’t get at home.

All-inclusives Are Hot

Expedia predicts all-inclusives will see even more traction in 2025, as bigger chains like Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton continue to push further in the category. In recent months, Hyatt rolled out the Hyatt Vivid all-inclusive concept and W Hotels is also leaning in, with its first resort planned in 2025 in the Dominican Republic.

“The all-inclusive era has been driven in part by financially savvy younger consumers who want luxury stays and stress-free, nothing-to-think-about convenience,” Fish added. According to Expedia Group data, usage of the “all-inclusive” filter increased by 60 percent compared to the year prior.

A Hotel Restaurant Renaissance

Hotels are investing even more into ensuring restaurants are a destination in their own right. That includes involving world-renowned chefs and ensuring menus rotate regularly to attract guests.

For instance, San Laurel, a California-meets-Spain restaurant from acclaimed chef and humanitarian José Andrés, opened to much fanfare at the Conrad Los Angeles. In Maui, a destination eager for tourists to return after 2023’s devastating wildfire, Ferraro’s Restaurant & Bar recently reopened as the flagship dining concept for Four Seasons Maui as the only oceanfront open-air restaurant in Wailea.

Meanwhile, nearly a third of travelers said room service from a famous hotel restaurant would make them more likely to book, while 31 percent said tables reserved exclusively for hotel guests would move the needle.

Instead of ‘Dupes,’ Think ‘Detour’

For 2025, Expedia is declaring travelers won’t skip tried-and-true destinations. Instead, they’ll add on another locale as a day trip detour. In a survey, 63 percent of consumers said they are likely to visit a “detour destination” on their next vacation.

Expedia compiled the 10 trending detour destinations for 2025, based on increases in searches:

• Reims, France (detour from Paris)
• Brescia, Italy (detour from Milan)
• Cozumel, Mexico (detour from Cancun)
• Santa Barbara, California, USA (detour from Los Angeles)
• Waikato, New Zealand (detour from Auckland)
• Girona, Spain (detour from Barcelona)
• Fukuoka, Japan (detour from Tokyo)
• Abu Dhabi, UAE (detour from Dubai)
• Krabi, Thailand (detour from Phuket)
• Canmore, Alberta, Canada (detour from Calgary)

The ‘Phenomena-List’

With 2024’s total solar eclipse sparking mass travel along the path of totality, Expedia believes that travel for natural phenomena will continue to be hot. Vrbo selected several natural events where travelers will want a seat in 2025:

• International Dark Sky Park – Arches National Park, Utah
• Synchronous firefly season – Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, TN
• Penguin parade – Phillip Island near Melbourne, Australia
• Bioluminescent plankton – Vero Beach, Florida
• “Black Sun” starlings’ migration – Wadden Sea National Park, Denmark
• Ballet of Japanese cranes – Hokkaido, Japan
• Highest tides in the world, walk on the ocean floor – Bay of Fundy, Canada
• Starling murmurations – Somerset, United Kingdom
• Volcanoes, lava fields, and black sand beaches – Reykjavík, Iceland
• Northern Lights – Lapland region, Finland

‘Set-Jetting’ Isn’t Going Anywhere

If you think the term that entered the everyday vernacular in 2023 is going away, think again. For 2025, “The White Lotus effect” is going strong, said Fish. “Two-thirds of travelers say movies, streaming services, and TV shows have influenced their travel choices, a 16 percent increase from last year.”

Some of the destinations on next year’s set-jetting forecast are inspired by reality shows, like The Real Housewives of Dubai and The Traitors, which took place in Scotland.