If you had asked us just a few years ago about why we like to travel, we would’ve merely told you that we loved exploring the world and that there was still so much of it for us to discover. And while there certainly remain many destinations we’re itching to fly off to for personal pleasure, the question of where to travel in 2025 is more complex: going forward, we don’t just think of travel as a pastime to get something out of, but increasingly as a wheel to help us steer the world in a direction we’d like to see it go.
Travel can be for the greater good. That much is hardly revolutionary. But to what extent it ought to be for the greater good, and what actually constitutes as such, is up for debate. There are no fixed parables when it comes to measuring ‘positive-impact’ tourism, a term whose very existence implied the potential for its opposite long before the many facets of ‘negative-impact’ tourism became so blatantly obvious – from the pollution of the natural world to tourism’s claim of limited resources like clean water or affordable living space in over-touristed urbanities, and the bastardisation of authentic culture as a result of it being made more commercially viable.
This isn’t to say that a desire to travel virtuously will override joy and personal enrichment for us in 2025. Some degree of ‘selfishness’ and hedonism can be a good thing, especially given the right context, and if what we need to get out of travel enables us to be the kinds of people we want to be, then we’re not ones to point the finger if you’ll book a private jet safari or travel to a politically controversial country this year because you have a profound, personal interest in its people and culture. In fact, ‘showing face’ and providing visibility can serve as a radical tool to open local hearts and minds, whether you’re a disabled traveller, a person of colour, a trans tourist or a Muslim visitor to a destination ripe with Islamophobic sentiment (that said, at OutThere, we endorse educated, informed and safe travel).
So while exciting new hotel openings and tourism-aimed initiatives in destinations all around the globe will continue to exert a pull, the realities of over-tourism, the need (not just desire) for escapist adventures and connection with communities like our own, and even the chipping away at democratic structures in long-loved travel destinations, mean that more than ever, we don’t merely think about ‘where to travel to’ but ‘why to travel there’ in the first place. You might reach different conclusions from ours attempting to align your upcoming journeys with what feels right to you, but that is secondary.
What’s important for the world’s travellers isn’t that we all agree on where to go, but for us to think critically about our motivations behind travel in 2025. Only by challenging norms, asking questions and holding travel providers accountable can the industry move forward, and do its part in facilitating progress on a scale that goes beyond mere tourism. As ‘travelling folk’, we have a responsibility non-travelling people don’t. And in a world where faith in politics crumbles and the integrity of tech corporations is increasingly called into question, remember that the decisions made by those who travel impact those who don’t, and trust that your biggest vote of all is the currency in your wallet – be it pink or green.
We’ll travel to show that we believe in a country
With a Trump-led, Conservative administration about to reenter office and memories of a chaotic first term still fresh, the United States of America, to some, might have lost part of their appeal. But travelling to the USA was never just about the country’s epic national parks or its zeitgeist-shaping cities from LA to NYC. The States are a brand in the best way possible: an idea, and the homeland of aspirations and dreams. And while we’re critical of the country’s political elite (and the corporations that, some might say, own it), we’ll continue to visit and support the countless brands, companies and individuals that make the USA one of the world’s greatest travel destinations.
A logical place to start would be the capital of Washington, D.C., of course, which will celebrate its 50th annual Pride this year by hosting WorldPride 2025 from May 17th until June 8th. Under the theme of ‘The Fabric of Freedom’, the city will nod both to literal fabrics – or flags – that celebrate communities, but also to the wider fabric that ties together LGBTQ+ people and allies. Within this, several communities will get the opportunity to both celebrate and protest in an effort to make their voices heard about the stigma and discrimination queer people continue to face across the world: Trans Pride will be held on May 17th and 18th, while DC Black Pride will run from May 23rd until May 26th. Meanwhile, Shakira is set to perform on May 31st, and a Pride Film Festival (May 31st until June 1st) will showcase the best of queer cinema, both classic and newly released.
Indigenous tourism, too, is on an upward trajectory across the USA, with travellers increasingly looking to experience and understand the intricacies that make up Native American philosophies, and which continue to inform both lives and culture. But while journeys centred around Native history have long captivated us, this year is all about the country’s cultural institutions, many of which are opening new exhibition spaces set to encourage dialogue and shine a light on once-neglected perspectives.
In California, the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center will open with a mission to inform visitors about Chumash heritage, which spans thousands of years and includes areas like medicine, language and ancestral music. The museum’s garden will tell the story of how the Chumash people studied and cultivated the local flora for both its nutritional and healing properties, while contemporary tribal life will take centre stage – literally – at The Heritage House, a space for lectures and performances. Over in Maine, an equally ambitious institution will open this spring with the Tekαkαpimək Contact Station. The visitor centre, which is located in the homelands of the Penobscot Nation, will invite travellers to explore the region’s rich indigenous history with a special focus on the Penobscot River and its foundational impact on local native culture (think exhibits that include carved birchbark canoes and woven Wabanaki baskets).
NYC, too, is welcoming an exciting new showcase of native civilisations when The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s galleries dedicated to the Arts of the Ancient Americas reopen at the end of May after a four-year closure to allow for renovation works. Some 700 artworks and artefacts will showcase the creativity of artists from across North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean in a new, permanent exhibition that will serve as an unprecedented spotlight on almost 5,000 years worth of indigenous history in the Big Apple.
But while we won’t ever tire of spending time in New York, neighbouring New Jersey is also on our radar in 2025, and it’s not least due to the arrival of Pendry Natirar late last year. The 66-key countryside hideaway sat within a 500-acre estate just under an hour outside Manhattan is the American answer to a rural English estate, with sprawling grounds that invite outdoor living. Given the hotel’s proximity to NYC alongside a roster of events taking place in the Garden State itself this year, Pendry Natirar makes for a relaxing weekend getaway from the city or a stately add-on to many a traveller’s regular Big Apple visits (not to mention an alternative to the Catskills for those looking for something new).
Designed by CosciaMoos Architecture with interiors by Design Agency, the property boasts a range of gastronomic experiences, from signature fine-dining outlet Ninety Acres to Ladd’s Tavern, where curries and classic burgers are served before guests tumble into the adjacent hotel bar for cocktails and chitchat. You’ll also find a 1,765 sqm/19,000 sqft two-floor spa at Pendry Natirar, all set with an indoor pool, a Himalayan salt room and outdoor terraces to relax as you take in sweeping views of the surrounding forests. With its luxurious offering, the hotel is perhaps a no-brainer for those looking to visit Somerset County this year, though even if New Jersey hadn’t already been on your travel itinerary for 2025, a few days out here would make a great addition to any trip along the East Coast.
We’ll travel to heal and grow
Restorative experiences will be about more than spa treatments in 2025. Rather, a new concept of wellness tourism is starting to emerge that emphasises not so much an internal sense of calm as an outward sense of belonging to the world and wanting to be in tune with it beyond the 60 minutes you might spend on a massage table. India, a go-to destination for spiritual journeys for generations, is in the spotlight again this year, and for good reason, too.
For one, walking journey brand Shakti Himalaya is set to open Shakti Prana in Kumaon come October. A reinterpretation of the brand’s pioneering Shakti 360 Leti, which was entirely dismantled in 2024, the seven-cabin Prana property will offer dramatic mountain views and wholesome experiences en masse – think sunrise yoga and hourlong walks with the opportunity to interact with the locals… not because the latter is part of the package, but, as Shakti Himalaya founder Jamshyd Sethna tells us, because the locals in the remote part of India will likely insist you visit them if they see you strolling past their homes.
And stroll you will, for Shakti Prana will be just one of the brand’s village homes strung along paths that wind their way around Uttarakhand’s mountains. There’s also the new Shakti Panchachuli, which travellers will use as a basecamp en route to Prana. Like its sister properties, Panchachuli will offer cottage-style accommodations that, albeit providing a range of creature comforts, are informed by restraint rather than excess: the greatest luxury across the Shakti brand’s portfolio is arguably its focus on moments that matter, and which truly connect guests to their sublime surroundings – from storytelling sessions by the fire pit to nights spent stargazing, these journeys tap into the healing powers of nature and movement.
Contrastingly, Dharana at Shillim in the Western Ghats mountain range of Maharashtra bets on stillness to guide its guests towards nirvana – or rather, dharana, a ‘concentration of the mind’. Just three hours from Mumbai and spread across some 2,500 acres, the wellness retreat is the latest in India to make waves with evermore elaborate wellbeing programmes. Designed around five pathways to conscious being, Dharana at Shillim, which is home to a remarkable 99 Villas and three Grand Residences, promises to take visitors from medical check-ups to physical healing, emotional equilibrium and spiritual connection. Treatments aside, it’d be hard not to feel some sense of connection as a result of the retreat’s location, one of the world’s leading biodiversity hotspots and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What makes Dharana particularly interesting to OutThere travellers in 2025 is just how wide-ranging its scope of restorative approaches is: this is a retreat in the traditional sense, but one that recognises that no two travellers are on the same path, and each guest will come with their very own set of goals. While many will no doubt fly in to work on a weight management routine that is sustainable for them in the long run, others will look to build greater mental resilience to aid their personal and professional paths, and some will embark on the Dharana Yogic Path Programme, which blends science with ‘cosmic energies’. Wellbeing itineraries at the retreat last between five and 28 days, and while you might not go from scrub to guru within that time, Dharana at Shillim makes a case for taking some time out to ground ourselves that is all the more compelling given how hard it is to disconnect in the digital age.
That the search for inner calm does not in and of itself lead to a vicious cycle of chasing productivity is a given at Chiva-Som Hua Hin, Thailand’s original wellness destination that’s celebrating 30 years since its inception in 2025. The Land of Smiles is seeing renewed interest this year, not least owing to the hotly anticipated third season of The White Lotus, but also because it has now officially legalised same-sex marriage. LGBTQ+ travellers in particular are in for a healing experience in a country that welcomes and respects them as they are, and with a new set of holistic offerings, Chiva-Som Hua Hin promises to make for a soulful stopover before you head back home via Bangkok.
The esteemed wellness destination will launch a roster of new programmes spanning weather-responsive wellness (which addresses how the changing climate can cause damage to the skin, alongside giving guests the tools to prevent said risks proactively) and itineraries that seek to help travellers create habits to support longevity. One new element to Chiva-Som’s offering stood out to us in particular: the ‘Emotional Growth’ programme will serve as an outlet for guests to reflect on who they are – and who they want to be – through therapeutic deep talk, art and audiovisual experiences. Providing an opportunity for introspection without the need for spirituality per se is an approach that promises to do justice to those who look for betterment within their own psyche, a space they can define and rationalise. Though, ultimately, whatever area of wellbeing you focus on this year, the one thing we know for sure is that wellness will continue to rank among the biggest motivations behind travel in 2025.
We’ll travel to be with the ‘set’ – and with our community
Those looking for a scene in 2025 will find it in the usual hotspots, from London to Bangkok and St. Tropez to St. Moritz. But destinations that move the needle on the zeitgeist are only ever as hot as the hotels in them, and savvy travellers are on a never-ending search for the latest place to see (and, duh, be seen). With some of our favourite hotspots attracting an increasingly brash crowd and a spirit of community – or even just a sense of everyone visiting being somehow ‘in the know’ – slowly being replaced with throngs of TikTokers and entirely predictable guest activations (not to mention intentionally ludicrous pricing to feign an air of exclusivity), we’ve got our eyes on two European destinations that have long made a name for themselves as cultural hotspots, yet are seeing renewed interest as places where synergies flow freely between clued-in visitors.
Bodrum, for one, is witnessing a maturation of its hospitality scene, with two luxury-meets-lifestyle players setting up shop on the Turkish peninsula, ready to attract a crowd of creatives that’s looking to mingle with like-minded souls. One of these is OKU, the 2020-launched hotel company famous for its outlets in Kos and Ibiza. This summer (next to opening its first family-oriented offering with OKU Andalusia), the brand will premiere a hideaway for all things slow-living with the adults-only OKU Bodrum. Laidback and design-driven, the resort is set to offer a take on boho chic moneyed gyp-setters will flock to in droves, with its overall colour scheme – reminiscent of Pantone’s colour of the year 2025, mocha mousse – attesting to the brand’s finger-on-the-pulse status.
Furthermore, OKU Bodrum’s location on the peninsula’s northern coast, edged between mountains and the Aegean Sea, unlocks exploration both on land and on the water, with many of the region’s top restaurants and beach clubs within easy yachting distance from the hotel’s private jetty. Not that you’ll be looking for reasons to escape, for the 58-key resort will feature rooms and suites with sea views, including some with private pools, plus the brand’s much-lauded dining concepts OKU Restaurant (serving Japanese fusion cuisine), the Mediterranean-inspired To Kima and a Sunset Bar. Between meals, guests will gravitate towards a spa where group yoga and meditation sessions in a shala overlooking the sea encourage communal wellness experiences.
The other new local hideaway on everyone’s lips is the all-suite and private villa resort Maxx Royal Bodrum, which opened in 2024 and has quickly gained a following of guests who swear by the Turkish hospitality company’s second-to-none connections within the country. Known for their ability to pull a string or two, Maxx Royal has collaborated with both sculptor Bernar Venet, who has created a monumental duo of steel arcs welcoming visitors to the resort’s marina, as well as Turkish A.I. landscapist Refik Anadol, whose digital art is displayed in the lobby. Its stance on pushing the envelope with ambitious art projects has made the hotel a melting pot for contemporary creatives and those who invest in their work in 2024, and we have a feeling 2025 will be no different.
Further contributing to its hotspot status is the hotel’s collaboration with Greek brand Scorpios, which has chosen Maxx Royal Bodrum’s peninsula as its first international outpost. The entertainment-driven beach concept practically doubles as a magnet for celebrities in film, fashion and all things fabulous, enticing guests to create and collaborate as they explore music and art in unison – conveniently, Maxx Royal is home to two exhibition galleries, should visitors feel inspired to make art and inclined to have it displayed publicly (enquire within!).
Beyond this, a total of seven individual dining outlets, six bars and a 5,750 sqm/61,900 sqft Maxx Wellbeing Centre are guaranteed to draw in-the-know travellers from East and West, many of whom no doubt know of the hotel as a result of its membership in the coveted Leading Hotels of the World portfolio, which itself recently celebrated the launch of ‘Design: The Leading Hotels of the World’, the first volume out of five coffee table books focusing on different themes that tell the stories of its illustrious members, with one volume to be published each year, much to the delight of travel insiders who make a point of visiting each hotel in the collection.
One of the 70+ properties showcased in ‘Design’ with multi-page spreads and original interviewers with the makers behind them, Munich institution Bayerischer Hof continues to lead the pack in the Bavarian capital, which we predict to see an influx of cultural travellers looking for less obvious yet equally exciting urban destinations this year. Munich is no doubt having a moment, with Rosewood having opened in 2023 (in time to host Adele during her 10-day residency the following year) and Koenigshof, a Luxury Collection Hotel arriving in 2024. But while the city is seeing an influx of new places to stay that adds much-needed fresh energy to its hotel scene, Bayerischer Hof remains a beacon of taste and a Grande Dame of ‘old money’.
All the same, the hotel continues to innovate, and a recent transformation of its Atrium by wabi sabi evangelist Axel Vervoordt in celebration of its remarkable collaboration with the Belgian interior designer has given the space a cleaner and more of-the-moment look. The artistic exchange between the property and the art world wunderkind spans 15 years so far (thereby predating Vervoordt’s more recently found fame beyond art circles, brought about by his work on Kim Kardashian’s Hidden Hills home), having included renovations of everything from restaurants to the hotel’s cinema lounge and even private suites, a rarity for Vervoordt and a seldom treat for fans of the designer’s signature style who get to stay in them.
With a hospitality scene keen to lure luxury travellers away from ‘the usual’, Munich is primed for another year on the up. Attesting to this is the city’s changing image, from a once-traditional and exclusive enclave towards one of Germany’s most diverse urbanities, featuring contemporary art institutions of a scale you’d more typically expect to find in a country’s capital, a happening gastro-scene that’s looking towards the future (track down the vegan bakeries during your visit) and original concept stores having well and truly arrived on Munich’s millionaire mile of Maximiliansstraße. Thanks to its ability to attract and foster creativity as well as cater to the cultural elite without wanting to compete with Paris or London, the Millionendorf (‘village of millions’) will be firmly on our travel itineraries in 2025.
