Experiential travel reigns but climate is still volatile: luxury experts reveal 2025 travel trends
Panellists presented a resilient and positive picture for luxury travel. Despite constant threats of volatility from economic and geopolitical events, they agreed that luxury travel had a lot to be excited about, so here are five key takeaways to help dissect the trends in booking patterns, destinations and experience, and what luxury agents should be prioritising for their clients.
Why you can't commoditise luxury travel
The panel heard earlier from PwC partner Eleanor Scott that luxury travellers were 10% more likely than other consumer groups to be taking an experiential holiday this year, and were quick to share their observations of luxury traveller priorities.
Jennifer Charlton, MD, Cox & Kings and SVP of Sales, A&K UK and EMEA Trade Sales, highlighted how the uniqueness of the experience - not the just the experience itself - is what catapults travel to premium levels.
'People want to get into places where nobody else can; they want that 'surprise and delight' type of element and they want to be met and whisked through the airport. They want to be made to feel special. It's a very consultative type of sell and they start out with a certain idea in mind - but those ideas, that uniqueness, is what is driving [increased spend]. It's very difficult to commoditise luxury travel if you want to upsell.'
Travel Counsellors' managing director Kirsten Hughes noted little limit in terms of the amount that premium customers wanted to spend, but was adamant that they want value for that spend.
'Those customers that maybe went to the same hotel pre-Covid, then post Covid prices went up again and again, so they are no longer brand loyal. And now there's so many properties – particularly in Europe – that have upped their game in luxury. People want to spend but they want to come back thinking it was worth it.'
No 'Trump effect' - but people are switching destinations
Luxury travellers were more likely than others to consider new destinations rather than retreating to the safety of what they have known before, the panel heard. But on the subject of safety, our panel was keen to point out that current geopolitical events and the threat of extreme weather were main drivers for customers booking later as they wait to see what unfolds.
Richard Hyde, chief operating officer and managing director of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, was quick to state that he had seen little evidence of the often pronounced 'Trump effect' on sales, but added that the chain was experiencing significant bookings in Caribbean, Japan and the Maldives.
He added that certain parts of Asia – such as Thailand or China – were 'definitely bouncing back'.
Charlton observed that clients are switching destinations. 'If you look at the Middle East and North Africa, that's been like a yoyo for us. It's difficult to replace unique destinations so there's no one place people are gravitating to,' she said.
Hughes added: 'Brits have really short memories, and the US has come back, but we are seeing bookings down for major cities and up for places like Montana, Yellowstone, Texas and ranch holidays.'
She noted significant growth in luxury cruise over the past four to five years, with strength in bookings also coming from Asia, Australia – and Albania, 'which has suddenly become popular'.
Sales are solid, but 'peaks' and troughs are volatile
Broadly speaking, our panellists were reporting solid sales as the year progresses, though they warned the industry should not rest on its laurels and the volatility of the travel market is making it more difficult to forecast.
Hyde stated this year has been 'very rosy' for Small Luxury Hotels of the World, with sales currently outdoing last year's 'best ever year', though he stressed now was not the time for the industry to rest on its laurels, with a particular nod to geopolitical uncertainties and world events 'You can have a sequence of events and it comes crashing down,' he warned, adding however that 'people are a lot more savvy these days and have a better sense of what's going on in the world'.
Hughes noted that across Travel Counsellors, premium travel was 'solid' against a backdrop of softening for non-premium sales, with average booking values up among premium customers, who were also going on holiday more often.
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