88. 2025 Travel Trends & Luxury Travel Tips

Want the inside scoop on the top 3 luxury travel trends for 2025 before everyone else? In this episode, I'll guide you through twelve must-visit destinations, from the romantic streets of Montreal to the heartwarming culture of Fiji. I’ll also delve into "detour destinations," offering unique ways to explore less crowded, yet equally stunning locales. Plus, we’ll discuss the rising trend of women-only tours and how they empower female travelers of all ages. And let’s not forget set jetting—a fun way to travel inspired by your favorite TV shows and movies.

Connect with Michele on IG: @jetsettingwithmichele or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/MMTinsiders

Contact Michele to plan your next vacation: www.makinmemoriestravel.co/contact

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Hello, jetsetters. Happy New Year. Welcome back to the very first episode of the new year 2025, and get ready for this episode to have your mind blown. You're gonna wanna take notes. Okay. Maybe you're walking or in the car. You're gonna wanna save this episode till when you are by your computer or when you can take some notes, or, I don't know, maybe you have that newfangled iPhone AI or Siri AI that can, like, summarize this episode, or you can check out our show notes. But, nonetheless, I have got the top three travel trends for you for 2025.

I am telling you what you're gonna see all over your meta feed this year before it starts, why you're gonna see all these things in your meta feed, and what trends are here to stay, not only for 2025, but beyond. And let's start with the hot stuff. I'm spilling the tea. The top 12 trending places that are going to be hot destinations. Well, actually, some of them are cold destinations, but you get the drift that you are gonna want to visit, that I want to help you visit. And I am really fortunate to say, and I'll point this out as I go along, that I've been to a lot of these. So starting off with Montreal. Montreal is part of French Quebec, and it's a beautiful cosmopolitan city.

And you can also go from there to Quebec City, which is an old modern city and is truly one of those winter wonderland romantic destinations. But, year round, it's really fun, especially, to do fall foliage cruises to get you up into Canada. So Montreal, number 1. The British Virgin Islands, if you've never been to the BVI, it's, beautiful beaches, Caribbean Islands, maybe less crowded than some of your Mexico islands. Peru, get there before you can't get to Machu Picchu anymore. Overtourism is happening, and you want to get there before it's closed to visitors and you can't get there anymore. So, so far, I've been to all 3 of those, Montreal, the BVI, or British Virgin Islands, and Peru. If you notice I am talking fast, that is because I am whippin' snappering through these.

Okay. This is the first one I haven't been to, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and you can visit the very best bookstore in the world there. And, you know, I've always wanted to go there for Carnaval. I know it's not Brazil and where we would normally think of going, but it's still definitely on my list. And then I have been to this next place, Berlin. 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2 at Potsdam, and Berlin is going to be really a great place to go, especially if you are a World War 2 history buff, which I am. And I've been to Berlin a couple times, and I did say the last time I was there that I was kinda done with Germany. I just get PTSD whenever I'm there.

But I really think that 2025, if I were gonna ever go back, that would be the year to do it. Okay. Another one I haven't been to but is definitely on my list is Switzerland. And when you go, we wanna be sure and get you out of Zurich to the Lausanne area, the Museum of the Olympics, Lake Lugano, and some of the beautiful part of the Alps where you, you know, it overlooks the French Alps, and there's, like, a French part of Switzerland that we wanna be sure. I've done an episode about Switzerland planning, and the next place too, I just got back from, as you all know, in November. And if you just listen to last week's episode, you will learn all about Marrakesh, which is also on this list. Now, these next places, I have not been to any of them, so let's add them all to our group hashtag travel bucket list. Botswana.

You can go see the Okavango Delta for elephants, the history, the people that have been there for over 20000 years. Lhaso. I can't even say this. Next place in Indonesia, Jaggaikara. Trip from Melbourne, home to the Australian Open in F1. And then Fiji. Now Fiji is gonna really make a showing this year because there's new nonstop air from Dallas, which is centrally located in the US. In Fiji, you can visit with the very warm hearted people, and you can participate in a mecca.

A mecca is a traditional Fijian dance. We saw some of them, similar things with the Hakka during the Olympics that combine song and dance, and it's used to tell stories about the island's history, the spirits, the legends, their love stories. It's often performed at celebrations and festivals, and it's considered a key part of the Fijian culture. So I say we visit the world's best beaches in Fiji and take in a mecca. Like, let's go. Okay. I'm gonna go over this slower this time. Montreal, the British Virgin Islands, Peru, Buenos Aires, Berlin, Switzerland, Marrakesh, Botswana, Lhaso, Jagiacara, Indonesia, Victoria, Australia, and Fiji.

Now, trend number 2 has a lot to do with why some of those destinations are considered the up and coming places to go in 2025, and that is to combat over tourism. So detour destinations, side trips, if you will, are marketing themselves as better able to capitalize on our desire to create more thoughtful, sustainable, and impactful tourism. We wanna form mutual respect and understanding between ourselves and our host communities. We really want authenticity in travel now. And visiting detours or places that, again, are quote unquote along the way also help us to feel like we're less part of a big crowd and more like we're experiencing a luxury destination that is all to ourselves. So examples include a detour from Barcelona would be to Dorona, Spain. A detour from Phuket would be Craybeef, Thailand. And we talked about Montreal and Canada, but on the other side, we've got Calgary and the beautiful Alberta and take a side trip to Canmore.

So that is trip number 2. We need to really work on combating overtourism and work on getting to ourselves to places that are not just hot and trending, but that are also going to give us the authentic and sustainable tourism that we want. And now, trend number 3. What is getting bigger this year, and what is gonna be here to stay? Women only touring. We heard about this when I did my Morocco trip. So from ground adventures, like far flung destinations such as Morocco or places like Saudi Arabia or, I would say, you know, a Majan cruise, luxurious river cruise in the France's wine country. There are options galore for today's so called, and I didn't coin this term, but I am taking it over, queen agers. Those of us who are empty nesters or maybe people the age of my mom, who, by the way, is now really almost 80.

That's a family joke, but mom, she'll get it if you know what I mean. I called her almost 80 when she was only gonna be 78 or 79. Anyway, now it's official. 2025, she turns 80. Yes. That was my squirrel moment for this episode. She is a queen ager, and we are going on some women only tours starting in March with a girls only fun in the sun. Spring break vacation for all of us older gals, as in graduated from college and don't have spring break anymore.

Phenomena travel. So the solar eclipse in 2024, of which I was hot damn in the center of for totality, proved that, and we saw tons of travelers coming into Austin, all the surrounding areas in of Central Texas. Dallas was also in the path of totality. So people really came in to see it from elsewhere, and that proved that seeing natural phenomena is a real life priority. So many people want to see those northern lights. I leave in just over a week on my own trip to go see the northern lights, and rest assured, in January of 2025, I will take you with me. I'm gonna try out the Delta Scandinavia tour company, see how it goes, and then put something together for all of us to enjoy for 2025. 61 percent of you, as in travelers, definitely want to see the northern lights.

The next most phenomena that people wanna see is the geological phenomena, like volcanoes, geysers, hot springs, and here are some that you may want a front row seat to in 2025. In Arches National Park, Utah, there is International Dark Sky Park. There is a synchronous firefly season in the Great Smoky Mountains of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I have been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smokies. It is my favorite mountain range, and I love the people in Gatlinburg and Tennessee, and not to mention they make a great cocktail in Tennessee. The penguin parade in Phillip Island, Mill Melbourne, Australia. I have a client who is going to see that this month and take great pictures. Okay.

There's the bioluminescent plankton in Vero Beach, Florida, the black sun starlings migration in Wadden Sea National Park in Denmark, the ballet of the Japanese Cranes in Hokkaido, Japan. Now, this is when, remember, I mentioned Canada and fall foliage, if you take a cruise, more than likely, you're gonna go through the Bay of Fundy. And it has the highest tides in the world, and you can walk on the ocean floor. How cool does that sound? And in Somerset, UK, there are starling murmurations. Have to research that one because I have an upcoming trip with all of you to the UK. Now, I mentioned volcanoes, lava fields, and other geological phenomena. The place to see volcanoes and lava fields, and even some black sand beaches, Reykjavik, Iceland. And Virgin Voyages has a cruise this summer that starts in Reykjavik.

And, of course, the place where I am headed next week, the Lapland region, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, the northern lights. Okay. The other trend that is really here and here to stay and getting bigger is my favorite, of course, set jetting. I mean, who doesn't wanna walk through Paris and Rome in Emily's shoes or experience the 4 seasons where The White Lotus is filmed, and, of course, the one that I've got coming up later this year where you can join me seeing all the sites where Bridgerton has been filmed in the UK. So, from binge worthy streaming shows to reality TV, travelers are continuing to turn on the screen for trip inspiration. Expedia Group actually identified set jetting as a travel behavior back in 2022, and the trend is continuing to grow. 2 thirds of you 2 thirds of you say that movies, streaming services, and TV shows are gonna influence your travel choices, and that's a 16% increase from last year. So places that are standouts include The Real Housewives of Dubai, Yellowstone, who wants to go to Montana and Wyoming, and Just Like That, you can, of course, listen to my tour of Sex and the City slash Anne Just Like That in New York City, Cape Town, inspired by one piece and Scotland, inspired by the traders.

I can't wait to visit Scotland. Another big trend that is here to stay expedition cruising and cruising in general. Between now and 2038, there are going to be 61 new ships. Cruise companies are adding more than a 157,000 new berths. Many of those are gonna be on larger vessels with lots of entertainment for people of all ages. And in those larger vessels, some are gonna have ship within a ship concepts, where you can find a little more privacy, a little fewer people, and greater amenities. So that's what I've got for you. Who is ready to take advantage of any of these exciting trends for this year and beyond? I want you to know that I am here to help you take care of all of those details.

So you can always hit me up on Instagram at jetsetting with  Michele, on my Facebook group, which is where I break all the news first is in my Facebook group, or you can just send me an email,  Michele@makinmemoriestravel.co. And all of that is in the show notes. And until then, happy, happy New Year and on with 2025.