Virtuoso has collaborated with travel trend forecasting agency Globetrender to launch the Luxury Travel Trend Watch: 2025.
Using global data from Virtuoso’s 2024 Brand & Travel Tracker Survey, which examines trends among high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, Globetrender and Virtuoso have pinpointed seven trends that will influence the luxury travel sector in 2025. These trends include Silver Bullet Wellness, Wander Women, and F**k-it Lists.
Silver Bullet Wellness
Projected to expand at an annual rate of 16.6 percent and reach £1.6 trillion by 2027 (according to the Global Wellness Institute), wellness tourism is evolving towards “Silver Bullet Wellness.” This approach emphasizes personalized health habits and longevity. Luxury travelers are increasingly searching for treatments that address insomnia, cognitive decline, and disease prevention, moving beyond traditional relaxation therapies to more comprehensive life-extension programs. Countries like Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and Thailand are at the forefront, with high-net-worth travelers gravitating towards retreats that offer intensive, customized mind-body transformations. One in eight Virtuoso clients is traveling specifically for wellness, which fuels a soaring demand for specialized treatments. Enthusiasts of Silver Bullet Wellness aim to return home rejuvenated and transformed, whether through a meditative retreat at Aleenta Retreat Chiang Mai in Thailand, genetic testing at Buchinger Wilhelmi in Germany, menopause therapy at Amilla Maldives, or “quantum healing” at Kintsugi Space in Abu Dhabi.
F**k-It Lists
While the term “bucket list” has long been a staple of travel vernacular, there’s a new trend on the rise: “F**k-It Lists.” This shift reflects a spontaneous, short-term approach to travel, embracing a “carpe diem” attitude. In 2025 and beyond, travelers will prioritize fun, liberating experiences that encourage living in the moment. As affluent individuals increasingly favor experiences over luxury possessions, this trend is leading to indulgences in extravagant travel options, including yacht charters, first-class flights, and private jets. “F**k-It Lists” motivate travelers to step outside their comfort zones, focusing on personal fulfillment rather than typical tourist attractions. Examples include tagging hammerhead sharks in Costa Rica, canyoneering in Utah’s Zion National Park, hot air ballooning over Namibia, attending Burning Man, or taking part in a psychedelic ceremony. Companies like Pelorus offer supercar road trips, while Based on a True Story provides unique experiences with actors and scripts, such as surprise kidnappings and treasure hunts. For the extreme adventurers, Desert Island Survival teaches survival skills on uninhabited islands in locations like Tonga and Panama, where participants must manage without instructors after learning essential techniques.
Mood Boarding
When planning trips, many people think about destinations and activities but often overlook their desired emotional experience. While relaxation is a common goal, travelers may find their minds wandering back to work while lounging by the pool. In reality, engaging in physical activities such as hiking may be more effective in reducing professional stress. As travel designers probe deeper into their clients’ true motivations, they can better address their emotional needs, leading to the emergence of the “Mood Boarding” trend in pre-trip consultations.
Philosopher Alain de Botton states that the challenge of travel is that “you take yourself with you,” highlighting the significance of understanding the purpose behind trips. Virtuoso believes luxury travel advisors should assist clients in distinguishing between “wants” and “needs” to curate experiences that offer emotional enrichment. For example, a candlelit dinner on the beach might be more about fostering connection or reconciliation rather than the event itself. Philippe Brown, founder of Brown + Hudson, an agency within Virtuoso, was an early advocate of “Mood Boarding,” utilizing psychometric questionnaires to evaluate travelers’ psychological preferences. In 2023, Black Tomato introduced “See You in the Moment,” a series of experiences aimed at creating lasting emotional impacts by emphasizing presence, like a candlelit banquet inside a volcano in Iceland.
XZ Beta Travel
By 2025, for the first time in history, seven generations will be traveling together, as “Beta Babies” are born to Gen Z parents (aged 16-30). This diverse group includes Generation Alpha (ages 1-15 in 2025), Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Matures. The trend known as “XZ Beta Travel” will feature young Gen Z parents traveling with their children and Gen X grandparents, who often fund these trips.
Gen Z, comprising 2 billion individuals, is projected to account for 27 percent of the global workforce by 2025, making them a significant consumer demographic. According to McKinsey, 35 percent of the luxury travel market consists of “aspiring” travelers with net worths ranging from $100,000 to $1 million, typically under 40 and increasingly from Asia. This demographic is responsible for over a third of the $239 billion luxury travel market. The challenge lies in catering to these young parents, many of whom turn to platforms like TikTok for travel inspiration (with 60 percent of TikTok users being Gen Z). While many in this generation are delaying or opting out of parenthood, even a small proportion choosing to have children will generate millions of new family travelers, prompting hotels to adapt. For instance, Shangri-La Hong Kong Island has transformed an entire floor into a luxurious haven for Beta Babies and Generation Alpha, featuring communal areas and themed rooms like treehouses and submarines. In the Italian Dolomites, Sonnwies caters exclusively to families, offering wellness experiences like milk baths and chocolate massages for children, an aquapark, playgrounds, and a zoo.
Wander Women
The trend of independent travel among women is expected to increase significantly in 2025 and beyond, with more women of all ages embarking on solo, adventurous journeys. Travel providers are responding by offering tailored experiences that cater to this growing trend, known as “Wander Women.” According to Virtuoso, 71 percent of its solo travelers are women, with 47 percent having gone through divorce, separation, or widowhood, indicating a rise in travel after key life transitions.
AmaWaterways has eliminated single supplements for solo travelers on select European river cruises starting in 2024, while the Swiss travel network A Small World launched the Solo Cruise Company, focusing on women aged 55 and older. In the realm of small group travel, Intrepid Travel is set to launch its first women-only trips to Saudi Arabia in November 2024, in collaboration with a local female operator. These experiences will include visits to Saudi women’s homes and exclusive female-only beaches. Meanwhile, startups like Mom’z provide “babymoon” getaways in Spain for expectant mothers, and Amilla Maldives hosted a “mid-life well-being” retreat for women navigating perimenopause and menopause in 2024. Luxury providers are strategically catering to the needs of solo female travelers by focusing on personal connections and unique experiences.
Memoirs in Motion
The “Memoirs in Motion” trend involves luxury travelers hiring professional film crews to document their adventures, transforming vacations into cinematic experiences and personal narratives. Unlike the “Set-Jetting” trend that focuses on visiting film locations, this new trend allows clients to become the stars of their own documentaries, reflecting a growing desire for personalized storytelling and memory preservation.
As many people collect thousands of unused photos and videos on their devices, luxury companies like Cookson Adventures are meeting the demand for meaningful retrospectives. Inspired by the style of David Attenborough documentaries, Cookson provides clients with cinematographers to create daily edits, social media reels, and complete documentaries starting at £13,000. Louis Waite, Cookson’s head of photography, highlights the importance of capturing guests’ emotions along with the action, with some clients even requesting real-time edits for social media sharing. Other luxury travel companies such as Quintessentially Travel, Pelorus, and Joro Experiences offer similar services, with project costs ranging from £25,000 to over £350,000. They aim to transform travel into cinematic memories, crafting visually stunning records of extraordinary experiences.
Racketeering
The term “Racketeering,” coined by Globetrender, reflects the growing trend of racket sports like tennis, pickleball, and padel during vacations, inspired by the 2024 film “Challengers.” Companies like Pickleball in Paradise now offer racket sport-focused vacation packages. Resorts worldwide are capitalizing on this trend by adding state-of-the-art courts, clinics, and tournaments. Notable locations include Marbella Club, regarded as the birthplace of padel in Europe, and Necker Island, where Richard Branson hosts the exclusive Necker Cup tennis tournament. His estate on Moskito Island also features tennis facilities.
Luxury resorts such as Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in France have partnered with Lacoste to embrace this trend, complete with branded tennis courts and a limited-edition tennis apparel line. Additionally, the Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani resorts in the Maldives have introduced padel courts, inviting professional players through the “Soneva Stars” program. Other destinations, including One&Only Aesthesis in Greece and Bürgenstock Resort and Le Grand Bellevue in Switzerland, have also adopted racket sports. Even cruise lines like Crystal Cruises are now offering onboard pickleball and padel courts, expanding the appeal of these activities to travelers.
