UK | New figures released from Marriott's 2025 'Ticket to Travel' research has indicated a promising rebound for global tourism operators.
The appetite for leisure travel is set to continue to grow in 2025, according to a new industry report. Figures from Marriott Bonvoy's 2025 Ticket to Travel research - conducted amongst 21,374 adults in ten markets across Europe, Africa and the Middle East - shows that 42 percent of travellers plan to go on more holidays in 2025 vs 2024, while 81 percent will do more or the same amount.
Consumers surveyed said that they plan to go on 2.3 domestic holidays within their own country in 2025, 1.8 short-haul holidays (four-hour flight or less) and 1.4 long-haul holidays. This suggests that respondents will be doing a total of 5.5 holidays or trips in 2025 – the equivalent of nearly one every two months.
The Ticket to Travel research identified a number of emerging or growing travel trends. Amongst them are 'Heritage Holidays' - a holiday taken to specifically explore their family's heritage, history or ancestry. More than a third (36 percent) have previously taken a heritage holiday and a further 32 percent plan to next year or in the near future.
Younger travellers are more likely to have done this - 43 percent of those aged 18-24 and 45 percent of those aged 25-34 have - compared to 22 percent of those aged over 65.
The key drivers behind this trend are travellers believing 'It's important to know where your family come from and understand what their life was like' (46 percent) and 'wanting to see where their ancestors lived and grew up' (45 percent).
Bravecations - travellers' propensity to be braver when they go on holiday and being more likely to try things they wouldn't at home - is another trend that clearly comes across in the Ticket to Travel research.
More than two thirds of travellers (67 percent) say that they are braver on holiday. Age plays a role with 78 percent of those aged 18-24, and 82 percent of those aged 25-34 saying they are braver on holiday, compared to 39 percent of those aged 65+. The top three things' people do on holiday that they wouldn't be brave enough to try at home are trying unusual food, climbing up somewhere high, and starting conversations with strangers.
Other trends that emerged in last year's research are set to become even more marked in 2025 - in particular sustainability and the use of AI.
More than seven in ten (72 percent) say that they look at the environmental impact of their travel plans compared to 64 percent last year. And over half (55 percent) say that they checked the sustainability of the accommodation they stayed in on their last holiday, although only 30 percent did so before they booked. However, this figure is up from 22 percent last year.
Growing rapidly when it comes to travel planning for 2025 is the use of AI. More than four in ten (41 percent) say they have used AI to help plan or research a holiday - up significantly from 26 percent last year, showing how much this trend has increased with EMEA consumers over the past 12 months.
This is led by younger travellers - last year, 45 percent of 18-24-year-olds had used AI, but this year the figure has risen to 59 percent. Meanwhile, 41 percent of 25-34-year-olds had last year, which has risen even further to 62 percent this year.
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