old town

5 Travel Trends to Know for 2025

With the curtain drawing to a close for another year, it’s time to begin looking ahead for what we could expect from travel trends in 2025. And while we don’t want to wish time away, we’re quite excited to see what a new year can bring to the world of travel and how we can help you navigate it. So, time to put your best foot forward and step into the new year knowing what you could expect to see emerge when you begin to plan your 2025 holiday.

Coming up in this article:

  • Why Are Travel Trends Important?

  • Top 5 Travel Trends for 2025

Travel trends are important for a couple of reasons, and not just for travel agents and industry professionals. Understanding the emerging trends can help you, as a customer, navigate where’s popular and has great experiences versus somewhere new that may have otherwise gone under the radar. Take our Scotland tours for example, everyone may know how great Edinburgh is, but have you taken the time to research the Scottish Islands? Remote and rugged, these picturesque landscapes are often the home to the best myths and legends. And rumour has it, one of the top destinations for 2025 is a trip to the Outer Hebrides. You heard it here first! 

  • Destination Dupes

  • Joy of Missing Out (JOMO)

  • Set-Jetting

  • In Season Travel

  • Gastronomy

Whether you have started to make arrangements for your 2025 holidays, or are simply beginning to research more of the top destinations to visit next year, our travel trends guide can help provide inspiration. For those of you already ahead of the game and have begun counting down the minutes until you depart for a small-group tour, see if you were ahead of the curve or find ways you can incorporate the themes highlighted.

Destination Dupes 

What’s the trend: Swapping popular (sometimes overcrowded) destinations for locations that provide a similar look and feel.

Destination dupes are this year’s way of discovering new locations, while knowing you may already like it based on your other favourite places. Let’s take a tour of Italy as example. Long open stretches of beaches, intimate caves with waves crashing into shore, and let's not forget the unlimited selection of gelato on offer. Are we making your mouth water yet? Good. Because if this is everything you crave for your 2025 getaway, but want to perhaps stay a little closer to home, one of the best destination dupes could be a trip to Ireland, the South West to be specific. And if you want us to take you there, then we’d be happy to introduce you to Murphy’s Ice Cream Parlor. It will be like you’re visiting Europe’s Mediterranean…but with slightly cooler weather. But the best part? This travel trends makes you see new destinations and can help push you out of your comfort zone to trying new regions you may have otherwise not visited.

Joy of Missing Out (JOMO) 

What’s the trend: Leaving your busy everyday life behind, and embracing the slower pace a relaxing holiday can bring.

Many look forward to a break or vacation because daily life can feel chaotic and overwhelming. With work deadlines looming, family commitments taking precedence, and don’t even get us started on the group chat pinging every five minutes trying to organise Sarah’s birthday get-together… We’re ready to embrace the travel trends of JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out) as a way to recharge our batteries and make it through the year. Our recommendation? You can’t beat the serene beauty and calmness that a tour of Switzerland can bring. Think sitting at the foothill of the snowcapped Alps, Swiss chocolate coating the inside of your mouth like velvet, and you feel your shoulders drop at the realisation that you finally have the tranquillity you’ve been searching for.
switzerland

Set-Jetting 

What’s the trend: Visiting a destination after seeing them featured in your favourite TV show or movie.

With more star-studded dramas filling our screens than ever before, production studios are turning their heads towards everyday locations rather than building them from scratch in studios. And with this travel trend taking the spotlight, more of us are becoming curious to these backdrops and researching if we can visit them ourselves. Luckily, we’ve done the hard work for you and can share our top film location tours for you to take part in in 2025. But if the UK is specifically what intrigues you, discover our Britain on Screen tours which includes everything from Outlander and Game of Thrones, to Bridgerton and The Crown, all your favourites contained in one nation.
blackness castle

In Season Travel 

What’s the trend: Travelling to destinations to embrace the weather…rather than run away from it.

Much like the food we eat, something just feels better in season. The ripeness of a strawberry in the height of British summertime, the cool breeze tickling our neck after forgetting a scarf while touring in autumn, and how could we forget the crunch of our boots imprinting in the first snowfall of winter. Yes, there’s magic to be found around every corner, and this is a travel trend we can get onboard with. So, decide on your favourite season and get ready to embrace all that it can offer, from all the best destinations.

Gastronomy  

What’s the trend: Visiting locations based on local cuisines and/or top restaurants and food outlets.  

You know the saying ‘come for the views, but stay for the cuisine’…OK maybe it’s not an official phrase, but its one we can stand behind. Because when your stomach is full, you have the fuel to continue roaming the destinations you’d only ever dreamt of visiting. And what a rich array of dishes you can find globally. Maybe the authentic fragrant flavors of Thai food has you booking your next flight, or perhaps a traditional seafood paella calls to you as if from the open waters themselves when touring Spain. This travel trend may not be a new concept, but with new pop-up restaurants, and more intimate dishes going viral online, we can expect to see more people reaching for their passports to get in on the action. Will you be one of them? Reach out to our private tours team to see how you can make your dream food tour a reality in 2025. 
irish pub

Securely Book Your 2025 Adventure  

Travelling to new destinations has never been easier. With the help of our expert driver-guides leading the way, you can walk the paths less trodden and uncover new myths and legends to share with your family and friends on your return. But why not bring them along and finally make it out of the group chat? With our travel calendar guide helping you navigate the best destinations to visit in each month, you have no excuses for securing a break. What’s more, coming onboard with us means you travel with a certified B Corp company, and travelling responsibly is always a reason to celebrate. So, sign up to our newsletter to stay up to date with all the latest Rabbie’s news, and we can’t wait to have you join us in 2025.