Trends in Tourism to Help you Thrive in 2025

As we end the first quarter of the year, many families are focusing their sights on the upcoming school- and public holidays. This is the time for tour operators, travel agents and tourism businesses to ensure they are utilitsing the tourism trends for 2025.

The latest trends in tourism rely on a combination of newly popular tourism activity and factors that impact our daily lives like the continued increase in AI.

Noctourism

Noctourism is a unique experience that combines tourism with nocturnal activities. In South Africa, this already includes night drives, moonlit mazes, picnics at night, stargazing or bushbaby tours.

This trendy idea can be implemented by South African tourism businesses by investigating which activities can be placed on a night-time activity roster.

Off the Beaten Track

Picture this: Hot coffee on early mornings of a three-day hike, camping under the stars or escaping to the hidden gems of the bush, forests or coast line. A perfect adventure for any granola girl.

It’s been noted by Byway in their travel trends of 2025, that people desire destinations where they feel wholeheartedly welcomed.

Heavily Influenced by eco-travel, highlighting that your unique venue or country escape is situated far off the beaten track can attract your nature connoisseurs. Furthermore, turning to a truly sustainable tourism approach like using mostly solar energy, keeping your business’s carbon footprint small and protecting the environment is not only fashionable but also good for the environment.

AI Tourism Trends

Even in tourism, AI is making its mark. Whether it is to help travellers brainstorm their ideas before they choose a destination, or if it’s tourism businesses that are creating tools to help them serve customers better or enhance their itineraries.

Artificial intelligence such as machine learning is helping agents to create personalised experiences. Backed by a powerful data processing tool, tourism businesses are able to gather real-time insight that can help them improve their decision making.

Elsewhere in the world, AI is creating a futuristic experience build int guest quarters ad self-driving cars, but it might be a matter fo taste when you find out that these AI-rooms include beds that monitor your blood pressure and heart rate.

Tech is expected to become increasingly important to this industry, but that traditional media should not be discounted yet.

Tech Advancements

Apart from AI, there are many advances in technology that is impacting trends in the tourism industry. This includes robots, chatbots, smart rooms, voice search and control, virtual reality and augmented reality.

From the Hilton Hotel chain’s robot concierge, Connie to robot attendees in Japan, there are many applications for technology in travel and tourism. Furthermore, smart hotel rooms bring the comfort from your smart house to your vacation.

Voice search is also a tech trend that is influencing the tourism industry. It will be beneficial to tourism businesses to jump on the technology bandwagon that helps customers make bookings through a voice assistant.

Other opportunities exist in online VR tours, and AR experiences.

Visiting Film Locations

Set-Jetting is a tongue-in-cheek play on the term “jet-setting”. It is a form of tourism that focuses on locations where productions where filmed, or attractions and cuisine featured in films.

With so many prestigious film locations or sets in South Africa, the country is seeing an influx of international production business that are filming on location as well as completing post production in the country. Are one of these close to your travel business? Include it in a package or day outing.

Wellness and Transformation Tourism Trends

A rapidly growing trend according to the Wellness Tourism Market research report by Fact.MR, this particular market is projected to reach $2,3 trillion by the end of 2033.

Wellness tourism is focused on self-improvement, helping travelers to improve their physical and mental health. It takes many forms such as meditation retreats, health spas or nature escapes.

The transformative section of this trend refers to the desire to be inspired and gain new perspective on life.

These are just some of the popular trends that you can watch out for. Since society and technology is constantly changing, it is bound to change, but staying on top of the various trends will help you adapt quicker to any changes.

Explore more about tourism in our Guide to the Tourism Equity Fund.