Travel trends in 2025

This episode delves into the changing landscape of travel, focusing on the growing trends of slow travel, road trips, microcations, and sustainability. As travelers seek deeper connections with local cultures, they are discovering the benefits of a more thoughtful and intentional approach to their adventures.

• Highlighting the trend towards slow travel experiences 
• Discussing the popularity and freedom of road trips 
• Exploring the rise of microcations for quick getaways 
• Emphasizing sustainability as a key consideration for future travel 
• Encouraging listener engagement and feedback on travel topics 

Thank you so much.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Some people travel to discover new cultures, others explore newer destinations for leisure, few try to get away from their hectic lives. Whatever be the reason, one thing is for sure, and that is with travel, we transform ourselves into better and culturally rich individuals. Welcome to the 5th episode of Discover with Shaheen. Life is short and the world is wide. Hence people world over are making travel a habit, and hence travel and tourism is set to continue its evolution even in 2025. I went through various research reports and I found one trend that will be on the rise, and that is slow and immersive travel. Call it the days of rushing through multiple cities. Instead, travelers will increasingly opt for deeper connections with local cultures, taking the time to experience places more thoughtfully. Let me share a personal experience with you. I was on a solar trip few years back and I wanted to travel the south belt of India. So the southernmost tip is Trivandrum, and from Trivandrum the trip was stretched to Kochi, and in between there were three, four cities like Munnar and Kunur, and in between we visited. You know, when the tour began, we started visiting historic and popular spots, but what happened is on the second, third day we felt very tired, because all of us. You know it was a big group I think we were approximately around 80-85 of us. Everybody felt very fatigued and tired. It was because the tour was a rushed one, because the tour operator had a fixed itinerary and we were restricted to sightseeing, because the tour operator wanted to cover many cities in a limited time. So it was just a touch and go experience for us and we all were so frustrated and we all actually pledged that we will never go on trips where it is like such an obnoxious trip. The whole idea of relaxing is taken away from you. So, like me, there are many tourists who prefer to immerse themselves in the culture of the places they want to visit. Even that time when I took this trip, I really wanted to have connections and conversations with local people over there, understand their customs, their rituals, and I really wanted to explore the place. For example, I really wanted to stay in Coonoor and see the greenery over there, the beaches over there, and I just wanted to see you know how things are, how the day unfolds over there, the beaches over there, and I just wanted to see you know how things are, how the day unfolds over there and what is a actually the authentic rhythm of daily life over there. But I could not experience any of these. So that era is gone. It's a bygone era, so let's not talk about it now.

Speaker 1: 2:56

The second uh culture. Second, what do I say? The second trend is road trips. Road trips will continue to reign supreme, with more people, all age groups alike. They want freedom, they want to explore the beaten path.

Speaker 1: 3:12

And there is this guy maybe, like you know, I know him since six months, we work together. So I just asked him where would you want to travel? He's a biker. He said I really want to go to Germany's Romantisch Strass. I said what is this? He says it's a romantic road and it is like a fairy tale. You know, when you, when you are biking on it, you see turreted castles, red roof villages and lakeotted countryside in the alpine foothills. That is something which I really want to. You know travel and I want to go there. That's my dream. And he told me it would be in some season. Because you know, and I said, why do you want to? He said that is life. I really want to explore national scenic routes and you know, that is a wow factor in, I mean, you know, going on a bike trip. I said, okay, I've never been on one, I would really want to try, I could be a pillion. I told him. He said, yeah, why not? So that is it, you know.

Speaker 1: 4:12

And now the third trend, that is microcations. Microcations have always been there, actually, even in my childhood, on weekends, my parents used to take me, you know, on the hill station, which was close to the city, close to the city, as in 80 to 100 kilometers away. Now, that time we didn't have these highways and all, so it was like seven, eight hour travel for us, and we used to stay there for a day or two and come back on a sunday, because next day it would be school. But now what has happened is everywhere, you know, across the globe. You see, the roads are there and you have these bridges, and connectivity is very good and there are lots of opportunities and lots of options to choose from. You know, a quick adventure, like you have. People want to go on a hiking trail, or just want to laze around, or to white sands, or maybe they want to experience culture and food in a nearby city without disrupting their daily schedules. So everybody has this option. People really want to try this and nothing like it. You know, just breaking away from the city, just driving maybe 60 kilometers on highways, and I mean you are there and you come back relaxed.

Speaker 1: 5:20

And now there's a twist in 2025. And that is this year is supposed to be a year of sustainability. Travelers are becoming more conscious of their environmental footprint. They choose, or they want to choose, eco-friendly options and they feel they must make mindful decisions about the places they visit. So this is something new for me and I mean, I don't know much about it, but this is what I am told and from solar journeys to sporting events, to sustainable adventures and immersive escapes, 2025 promises to be a year where travel is more personalized, purposeful and, importantly, more thoughtful.

Speaker 1: 6:08

I hope you all like this episode of mine. It was a tiny episode, a casual one, but I found it appropriate to do it because people love to travel and these are just basic trends. The year has just started off and I thought people would love to hear about travel trends. And now I would like to add over here if you have any idea which you want, which you want me to talk about, or anything, we can always have a discussion on this podcast, which is all about you and me. You can write to me on discoverwithishyaheen on Instagram, or you can even mail me on discovervishyaheen at gmailcom. I will be more than happy to hear from all of you. Thank you so much.