What To Expect: Travel Trends For 2025

Travelling is never going to go out of fashion, is it? And we’re not surprised. 

But there’s no doubt that our attitudes towards and preferences for travel changes as the years pass. Let’s look at the travel trends which are predicted to be big news in 2025.

Destination dupes are still a thing

When planning a holiday, we might previously have immediately thought of the same destinations: the adventure of Disneyland, the beaches of the Maldives, the wine farms of Italy and France, or the Great Wall of China. 

Desination dupes are similar locations which are as-yet undiscovered, meaning you can get a similar experience at a cheaper cost and with fewer crowds.Visitng Albania instead of Greece is one destination dupe popularised by TikTok.

Asia is back in the spotlight

To be fair, Asian countries like Japan, China, Thailand and South Korea have never really left the spotlight when it comes to teaching English. But it seems non-teachers are re-discovering the beauty of the East. 

Not surprisingly, it’s the same aspects of the region which attract us TEFL teachers which are the reasons for this resurge in interest: easy travel options, a favourable exchange rate combined with a low cost of living, and fewer visa requirements are just a few of these.

This isn’t restricted to Western visitors. 2025 Looks set to see an uptick in local travel in South East Asia.

Love is (quite literally) in the air

Let’s be real, dating apps are so 2024. This year, singles are turning to solo travel to find romance. 

The benefits of solo travel are many, but it’s the fact that solo travellers are more likely to connect with others and push themselves to experiencing new things that make it possible to meet a friend or partner.

Fun fact: Teaching English abroad is a great way to meet like-minded people.Just ask TTA alumna Shannon, who met her husband while teaching English in China! 

She says: I originally planned to stay in China for one year. However, three years later I’m still here and will probably stay for many more years with my husband and our son. Who would have thought I needed to travel to the other side of the world to meet my future husband?

Read more: Solo Travel: Tips, Safety, And The Best Destinations

The embracing of well-cations

Self-care and self-kindness were buzz words last year. This year we’re talking about well-cations. 

Travellers don’t only want to see new and exotic destinations (or those off the beaten track), but they want holidays which enhance their mental, emotional and physical well-being. 

Wellness tourism has led to a boom in popularity of yoga retreats, longevity packages, female health programmes – even workout holidays. 

Bleisure travel

Simply out, bleisure travel is travelling for work and leisure at the same time. In other words, combining a business trip with a vacation.

While it’s been around for a while, it makes even more sense now with the rising cost of travel. If you can combine a work trip and a holiday, you can save on flights. 

Of course, digital nomads take bleisure travel to the extreme (and why not?), but TEFL teaching is another popular way of travelling while working as it provides plenty of opportunities to travel abroad and work. 

Nostalgic travel

Nostalgic travel can take a few different forms:

• travelling to a destination you visited as a child
• visiting a location made famous by a childhood book or movie, or
• using “old-skool” forms of transport, like steam trains to holiday as we did in the past.

This trend can also tie in with the desire to go tech-free on holiday, as well as appealing to eco-conscious travellers who prefer not to travel by air because of environmental concerns. 

AI made me do it

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s no doubt that Artificial Intelligence is going to make its mark in 2025 and beyond.

Tech-savvy travellers already use ChatGPT and other AI programmes to design personalised itineraries in their chosen destinations. 

And that’s only the beginning. Experts predict that soon AI will have the capabilities to make online bookings for us, from air tickets to accommodation to excursions. All you have to do is turn up!

Travel, but make it meaningful

Travel is no longer about ticking countries off your bucket list. Meaningful travel involves discovering destinations, but also discovering yourself. 

If you’re interested in learning about the world but also growing as a person, then meaningful travel is for you. 

Skip the regular tourist traps and visit authentically traditional communities to truly experience a culture. Even better is taking on some volunteer work to give back to the local community while you are there.

Read more: How To Find TEFL Volunteer Jobs

Have you made your travel plans yet for 2025? Excited to get involved in one of these new trends? 

Don’t forget: teaching English abroad is one way to experience many of these trends in one shot!