Top travel trends of 2025 from racketeering to f**k-it lists
From Racketeering to F**k-it Lists, a new report from travel trend forecasting agency Globetrender has revealed the top travel trends of 2025, including where people will be going to and what will be motivating their booking decisions. Download the full report here, but read on for five major trends.
The report, titled “Luxury Travel Trend Watch: 2025,” was produced in association with Virtuoso, drawing on global data from the 2024 Virtuoso Brand and Travel Tracker Survey and insights from industry experts.
It highlights the evolving needs and desires of luxury travellers, from niche wellness-focused experiences to multi-generational trips and solo female adventures. The report also introduces a proprietary “Luxury Traveller Journey Scale,” which measures how the correlation between wealth and worldliness affects trip motivations.
With luxury travel sales for 2025 and 2026 already up 49% compared to the previous year, these trends offer valuable insights for travel advisors and partner brands looking to cater to the changing demands of affluent travellers.
1. Racketeering
A trend coined by Globetrender, “Racketeering” describes the rising popularity of playing racket sports such as tennis, pickleball and padel while on holiday, spurred by the likes of Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 movie Challengers. Luxury resorts are increasingly incorporating state-of-the-art courts and facilities for these sports, along with clinics, tournaments and coaching sessions (there are even companies emerging such as Pickleball in Paradise that organise vacations for players).
High-end destinations – Necker Island, the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc – are leading the way, with the latter partnering with Lacoste to create a limited-edition capsule collection of tennis apparel (rackets cost €540/ US$596). Maldivian resorts such as Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani have installed padel courts and offer coaching from world champion players. This trend is also extending to cruise ships, with Crystal Cruises adding pickleball and padel courts to their vessels.
2. Silver Bullet Wellness
The wellness tourism sector is predicted to reach US$1.4 trillion by 2027, with a new sub-trend emerging that Globetrender has coined “Silver Bullet Wellness.” This focuses on hyper-specific “cures” and personal optimisation, going beyond traditional pampering and juice cleanses. Luxury travellers are seeking intensive treatments for issues ranging from insomnia to cognitive decline, with some spas even offering healthy life extension programmes.
Leading destinations for these experiences include Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and emerging hotspots in the Middle East, Thailand and the Maldives. High-end facilities like Clinique La Prairie in Switzerland are offering week-long “Brain Boosting Programmes” with comprehensive health assessments and personalised advice, costing upwards of US$30,000.
3. Mood Boarding
Travel advisors are increasingly recognising the importance of understanding how clients want to feel during their trips, rather than just focusing on destinations and activities. “Mood Boarding” involves separating “wants” from “needs” and facilitating emotionally nourishing experiences for big spenders.
Luxury travel companies such as Brown + Hudson and Black Tomato are pioneering this approach, using psychometric questionnaires and designing experiences that tap into the psychology of travel. For example, Black Tomato’s “See you in the Moment” series offers rare and remarkable group experiences categorised by themes such as The Meal, The Event and The Challenge, aiming to deliver lasting impact and encourage travellers to be fully present in the moment.
Thierry Teyssier, founder of world’s first “wandering” hotel concept 700,000 Heures, told Globetrender: “Staff need to find out how the hotel guests feel on that particular day. Did the couple have a huge fight the night before and one of them slept in the bathtub? Or did they stay up until 4am dancing to music on the bed?”
4. Memoirs in Motion
Luxury travellers are increasingly hiring professional film crews to document their holidays and expeditions, creating polished, cinematic recordings of their journeys. This reflects a growing desire for personalised storytelling and the preservation of memories in visually stunning formats.
Companies such as Cookson Adventures are providing cinematographers who can create everything from daily film edits to mini-documentaries on conservation projects. Black Tomato and Quintessentially Travel, are also arranging film crews for clients, with projects ranging from £25,000 to more than £350,000, while innovative start-ups such as Cine Adventures are selling these services directly, offering to produce 4K movies for clients anywhere in the world.
5. F**k-it Lists
Moving away from traditional “bucket lists,” luxury travellers are embracing a desire for short-term rewards and living in the moment, with travellers seeking more frivolous, fun, and liberating experiences aka “F**k-it Lists.” This trend reflects. Luxury travel providers are responding by offering exclusive-use experiences such as VIP transportation, luxury yachts and private residences, teamed with unique adventures – think tagging Hammerhead sharks in Costa Rica or canyoneering in Utah’s Zion National Park.
Based on a True Story excels in bringing to life magical fantasies for ultra-wealthy clients; clients can sign up for a surprise kidnapping, go in search of buried treasure or take part in a voodoo themed party inspired by the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. The trend also extends to more extreme experiences, such as Desert Island Survival’s castaway trips, which do exactly what the name suggests.