The 2025 travel trends turning unheard of destinations into tourist hubs

Choosing a holiday destination is about a lot more than budget, according to analysis of 25,000 travel bookings, with travellers turning often unheard of places into tourist hubs.

Australians are travelling to all corners of the world to experience natural phenomena such as the starling murmuration at Leighton Moss in Lancashire.

Astro-tourism, set-jetting, cowboy quests and detour destinations are among the top 2025 travel trends being observed by online booking agencies, turning often unheard of places into tourist hubs.

Analysis of bookings made by 25,000 travellers through Expedia, Wotif and Stayz showed that a desire to get out of the major tourist hubs was boosting demand for “detours” to places such as Reims in France; Brescia, Italy, Girona in Spain or Canmore in Canada.

“Goods getaways” were another emerging trend as travellers sought out specialty groceries in foreign countries or explored ­supermarkets in the same way others toured museums.

Grocery tourism is now a recognised travel trend, according to Expedia.

Krabi in Thailand is one of the top trending destinations.

Then there was the growth of “phenomena tourism”, whereby travellers planned a trip solely around a natural event, including the starling murmuration in Lancashire, Phillip Island’s penguin parade, the Northern Lights in Lapland and volcanic activity in Reykjavik, Iceland.

But one of the biggest drivers of travel identified by the research was “set-jetting” as fans of certain films and TV shows sought to visit places featured on big and small screens.

Expedia research showed six in 10 customers had found travel inspiration in a film or television series such as Emily in Paris, And Just Like That (New York) and Shogun (Japan).

Others were pursuing their own cowboy quest in Montana and Wyoming after watching Yellowstone; Scotland was rising in popularity due to The Traitors, and The Real Housewives of Dubai were proving a promotion for the United Arab Emirates.

Video games such as Dungeons of Hinterberg and Final Fantasy were another source of inspiration for travel, while search engine Skyscanner was seeing more people combining an interest in horticulture, sports or astronomy with their holiday plans.

The Northern Lights in the Lapland region.

Skyscanner travel expert Jarrod Kris said there were many motivations for travel but the one thing that remained the same was the desire to land a good bargain.

As a result, it seemed Australians were looking for the next Bali – with places such as Siem Reap in Cambodia, Krabi in Thailand and Labuan Bajo and Yogyakarta in Indonesia getting a lot of interest.

Mr Kris said Krabi was one of the top trending destinations due to a 34 per cent fall in fares to $531 return from Perth in October.

“We are certainly going beyond the obvious tourist destinations in search of the perfect place to create memories,” Mr Kris said.

“It’s great to see Aussies widening their horizons and adding new destinations in Indonesia, or putting Finland, Iceland and Norway on their bucket lists.”

Closer to home, Wotif was tracking the popularity of “season swapping” as travellers tried to avoid the heat of summer or cold of winter by heading to Tasmania or far north Queensland.

And the rise of JOMO or joy of missing out (as opposed to FOMO and the fear of missing out) was helping to keep coastal holiday homes and farmhouses booked up, as travellers sought to relax and reduce stress.

Originally published as The 2025 travel trends turning unheard of destinations into tourist hubs