4 Summer Travel Trends for 2025
Summer tends to be a huge travel season in the United States—and this is shaping up to be true for 2025, too. Leisure travel was up last year. And the travel trade publication Skift predicts that travel companies will see a 24 percent increase in the number of trips people plan to take in 2025—as well as an increase in how much people plan to spend on travel.
So, where is everybody going? It seems that the vacation trends for 2025 are actually more about the meaning behind a particular destination than about the place itself. Below, travel blogger Eva Keller of Discovering Hidden Gems, who spends more than 100 days road-tripping every year, explains the four top trends.
Interests-based travel
According to Keller, people will choose where to travel based more on experiencing a special interest rather than on trying to hit up all the top tourist spots in a particular city.
“For example, people aren’t taking trips to New York City just to see the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building this year,” she explains. “They’re going more for a particular interest they have: If they love the show ‘Friends,’ they’re going to take a tour to see the apartment building and do all things ‘Friends’ on their trip.” While they may take in a show while in the city (a must!), the emphasis of the trip will focus more on a special interest.”
Another example of interest-based travel would be heading to Nashville this summer for the music festival Bonaroo, which is just an hour away in nearby Manchester. While you’ll likely visit some honky-tonks and enjoy Music City, the purpose of the trip is less on tourism and more on the festival. Or, you might head to Las Vegas not just for the glitz and glamor but to bungee-jump off the Strat Hotel, an iconic jump on many thrill-seekers’ bucket lists.
She adds that for these types of vacations, many people will make it into a fun road trip, usually going somewhere about three to five hours from home.
Nostalgia vacationing
Nostalgia will play a big part this year as far as how people determine the focus of their vacations, especially for families. In fact, according to a 2025 Hilton Trends Report, 58 percent of travelers around the globe revisit childhood travel destinations when vacationing with their kids.
Keller says that this will likely look different from person to person, family to family. People may try to recreate trips that they took in their childhood that they haven’t done in years, revisit their honeymoon destination or go to a place that they associate with a significant life milestone. This could mean taking the kids to see the college town where their parents met or heading to the beloved camping spot of their youth.
For Keller, going to the site of a beloved family cabin is her personal nostalgia vacation. “My mom’s family used to have a cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee and they would visit every summer when she was growing up,” she says. “I think when her grandparents passed away the cabin was sold or torn down. She hasn’t been since, but I went for the first time with my husband last year, which sparked a whole discussion of doing a family trip to Gatlinburg and renting a cabin together.”
She says that places like Williamsburg, Virginia or Washington, D.C. are also popular nostalgia vacation options. These have long been common spots for parents to take elementary school aged children for a family vacation—and now the next generation wants to do the same.
When it comes to the beach, she says that Virginia Beach, Hilton Head, the Outer Banks, and the Destin or Pensacola areas in Florida are becoming big draws for their nostalgia factor.
“Most of these places are particularly popular now because they tend to be cheaper, closer to home for millions of Americans, and a little quieter and calmer than other beach destinations like Miami’s South Beach,” she explains.
Stepping back in time
People increasingly want to use their vacation time to detach from technology. A recent study of people who plan to travel within the next year showed that nearly one in four respondents make more of an effort to limit time on digital devices—and on social media—while they travel. They also make more of an effort to avoid responding to calls, texts or emails during vacation.
It’s no wonder that people are increasingly interested in destinations that are out of step with modern technology. Keller says that trips to places that have historical charm and still “live in the past” will be popular for 2025. “Places like car-free Mackinac Island and Ohio’s Amish Country come to mind for places that are like stepping back in time,” she says.
Another destination that’s gaining popularity is the historic Route 66, which will celebrate its centennial next year. To prepare for the 100th anniversary of this legendary highway, which ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, many of the motels and iconic stops along the route have been renovated and restored to their original charm to attract more travelers.
Family reunions
Now that the pandemic is firmly in the rearview mirror for most people, Keller says families will incorporate more reunion-type travel this year. This is especially true for the those who have just started welcoming the next generation in the last five years or so as their little ones are now old enough to travel more easily.
“Multi-generational family getaways to destinations like Orlando, where everyone can all experience theme parks together, will be popular,” she says. DisneyWorld and Universal Orlando Resort offer different travel packages to make traveling as a family easier, with Universal offering discounted tickets for groups of 20 and up.
“Mountain getaways or cruises where everyone can stay in cabins together will be another desirable way to get together,” Keller says. Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite and Great Northern Resort in Montana’s Glacier National Park both have a collection of cottages that families can book next to each other. If you’re interested in a family cruise, booking through a travel agent is a good idea so that you can get rooms together.
