The Appeal of Emerging Travel Trends

As we look to 2025, Future Partners asked American travelers about the appeal of 10 travel trends that have emerged or become more prominent recently—from Skillcations to Doom Tourism. Here’s what we learned about how travelers are feeling about these new(ish) reasons to travel.

IMPORTANT: These findings are brought to you from our independent research, which is not sponsored, conducted, or influenced by any advertising or marketing agency. The key findings presented below represent data from over 4,000 American travelers collected in November 2024.

• Slowcations (leisurely and immersive travel, focusing on quality over quantity. It encourages deep connection with a destination by spending more time there, engaging with the local culture, environment, and community): The most popular of the trends tested, 57% of American travelers find Slowcations appealing. Don’t let the word “slow” mislead you. Slowcation enthusiasts are active travelers with diverse interests.  Compared to other travelers they are significantly more likely to participate in more activities while traveling than other segments.
• Skillcations (a type of travel experience where individuals take a vacation to learn or improve a specific skill. Skillcations typically include hands-on workshops, classes, or immersive experiences in areas of the traveler's interest): 39% of American travelers find Slowcations appealing. While being a smaller segment, skillcation enthusiasts do have much higher than average annual travel budgets, at nearly $7,000.
• Experiential Travel (participating in immersive, hands-on experiences that connect you with a destination's culture, history, or environment): 56% of American travelers find Experiential Travel appealing. Experiential trip enthusiasts’ top personal passions are food and cuisine, historical attractions and outdoor experiences. Also, when developing and promoting experiential product concepts, keep in mind that travelers’ top priority this year is spending time with friends and family.  
• Plan-Free Travel (embracing spontaneity by minimizing pre-planned itineraries, allowing for more flexible and unstructured experiences): 48% of American travelers find Plan-Free Travel appealing. One segment that appears highly attracted to plan-free travel is parents of school-aged children, specifically those with younger children
• Sleep Tourism (trips focused on rest, relaxation, and improving your sleep in 2025): 45% of American travelers find Sleep Tourism appealing. As nearly a third of adults are chronically sleep-deprived and an estimated 50 to 70 million Americans battle sleep disorders or disruptions, the strong appeal of this trend showcases travel as a wellness activity.
• Doom Tourism (traveling to destinations that are threatened by environmental or other factors, with the intention of seeing them before they change or disappear): 26% of American travelers find Doom Tourism appealing. Doom tourists are not only the youngest of the groups studied here—they may be looking for a little escape.  They’re twice as likely to be passionate about cannabis consumption and three times as likely to be interested in psychedelic tourism.
• Gig-Tripping (taking trips around major concerts & music festivals): 42% of American travelers find Gig-Tripping appealing. Unsurprisingly, gig-tripping is the domain of youth.  More than 55% of travelers interested in gig-tripping are millennials or younger.
• Foodie Trips (traveling to explore destinations known for their food and drink experiences): 57% of American travelers find Foodie Trips appealing. Amongst foodie trip enthusiasts, 60 percent actively use social media channels to plan their trips.  This is nearly double the rate for other travelers.
• Coolcations (in response to rising global temperatures, some travelers are opting for vacations in cooler climates or during off-peak seasons to avoid extreme heat): 36% of American travelers find Coolcations appealing. Nearly half of coolcation enthusiasts (47%) expect to travel outside the United States this year.
• Solo Travel (when someone goes on a leisure trip by themselves, without friends or companions): 43% of American travelers find Solo Travel appealing. While they may be traveling alone, soloists are looking for advice from other humans. Solo travel enthusiasts are nearly twice as likely as other travelers to use travel agents and digital influencers to plan their trips.

In summary:

• The majority of American travelers said they find slowcations (57%), foodie trips (57%), and experiential travel (55.9%) to be appealing for a 2025 trip. Just under half (48%) are drawn by the idea of "plan-free" travel, while a similar share (45%) feel the same about sleep tourism, indicating a pervasive need among American travelers for more stress-free, restful trips. 
• From a passions mindset, about four in ten American travelers (42%) find the idea of gig-tripping appealing, and a similar proportion (39%) like the idea of taking a skillcation in 2025. 
• On the climate change-related travel trend front, only about a third (36%) said they find coolcations appealing, while over a quarter (26%) said that doom tourism is an appealing idea for 2025.

To stay up to date on the latest travel trends amongst your target traveler profiles, subscribe to The State of the American Traveler Insights Explorer tool.

Learn more about the latest trends during our monthly livestream.

We can help you with the insights your tourism strategy needs, from audience analysis to brand health to economic impact. Please check out our full set of market research and consulting services here.