It’s not so long ago that we made decisions about where to travel to purely on the back of what we were in search of, and which destinations promised to deliver it: the Caribbean meant beaches and rum, Alpine slopes still glistened with the promise of guaranteed snow, and cities from Miami to Dubrovnik vied with one another for tourist dollars. But change is afoot in how travel – and travellers – are perceived. And with it, a more nuanced set of motivations behind our journeys is on the horizon.
Travel is a privilege. Or at least it was until the 1970s when modern mass tourism put never-before-seen numbers of people in the passenger seat of any vehicle headed for warmer climes, rural enclaves or cosmopolitan hotspots. To think that greater affordability alone had made travel less of a privilege and simply another ‘given’ in a consumerist culture, however, would be short-sighted: the opportunity to holiday abroad continues to be a privilege by definition, for according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), most of the world’s international arrivals are made up by less than a quarter of the global population.
Although the uneven distribution of travel among people is not the whole story, for each time any of us visits a new destination, we arguably ought not to take the local hospitality for granted. In 2024 more than ever, headlines of friction between locals and visitors dominated the tourism narrative from Bali to Barcelona, and a resulting need for discretion and privacy on the side of travellers who reside behind ever-higher walls and are often entirely divorced from life on the ground stands in the way of the very thing that’s made travelling anywhere desirable in the first place: immersion in just what makes each destination the distinctive locale it is.
The good news is that there are ways to moderate one’s impact on the road, and even the most visited countries can still benefit from tourism done right. Whether you’re planning culture and cocktails in Amsterdam or sun and sea in the Maldives, few destinations are a no-go in our book (and those that are, are so for reasons of an altogether different nature). When trying to answer the question of where to travel in 2025 – like we began to do in the first part of this series – we should each weigh up what we need with where needs us, for many a destination and its people have high hopes of responsibly welcoming more visitors and reap both tourism’s economic and intercultural rewards.
Aside from this, if travel isn’t merely about leisure for you, it likely holds the promise of new stories, different ways of thinking, and experiences unimaginable elsewhere. It’s only by becoming an eclectic traveller, the kind that will visit both Paris and Papua New Guinea, that we’ll also become an interesting traveller, and someone with a scope of what life looks like in parts of the world beyond the borders of each year’s ‘hottest’ new destinations. For us, a 2025 bucket list should be less predictable, and more reflective of the multi-faceted motivations that drive us to go to the airport and board a flight… regardless of where we’re headed.
We’ll travel to put our spending towards good
While you might think of travel as an activity offering endless opportunities to those who engage in it, its benefits can be even greater for those who facilitate it. Recent trends have shown that holiday budgets on the luxury end of the spectrum are on an upward trajectory, owing in part to a lasting shift towards a society that, perhaps oversaturated with physical luxury goods, instead seeks experiences and moments that create memories to last a lifetime. And when deciding where to travel to in 2025, the question of how your travels can support charitable initiatives and ethical tourism models should be as relevant as any.
One destination standing out in this context is Sri Lanka. Just as the island nation began to recover from tumultuous years (an occasion we celebrated with The Seductive Sri Lanka issue), it was plunged into the pandemic at the worst possible time. Now, leading local hospitality brand Resplendent Ceylon is tempting travellers with a kaleidoscope of reasons to return: firstly, its Cape Weligama riviera resort completed a fully-fledged renovation and was reborn in December to commemorate its 10th anniversary. The hotel, which is part of the Relais & Châteaux portfolio, now lures travellers with a secluded new beach, all set with its very own beach club, as well as The Society, a lounge and bar area that’s been wholly reimagined. Moreover, Cape Weligama has launched three new private residences, including the Prestige Villa, complete with an infinity pool for early morning laps.
The brand’s iconic Ceylon Tea Trails property, too, is inviting travellers to return with the recent introduction of digitised hiking routes of its 14 trails across Sri Lanka’s central highlands, now available on Wikiloc. By opening up more of the region to visitors, Ceylon Tea Trials, which revolutionised tourism in the tea country when its five bungalows first opened in 2005, seeks to build on its reputation of helping tourist spending reach further-flung communities. The hotel has succeeded in attracting travellers away from Sri Lanka’s popular coastal areas and towards the culturally rich inland, setting up an infrastructure for tourism over the past twenty years that has greatly benefited the locals. And it doesn’t just do so economically – rather, select initiatives have provided support across the region, from the Peak Ridge Corridor Project, in whose founding the hotel played an instrumental role, or the Model Montane Forest Project, which counteracts deforestation and allows guests to actively get involved in tree planting.
Another island nation in the Indian Ocean on our radar in 2025 is Madagascar. Still little visited by all but the most intrepid of travellers, and accordingly home to just a few resorts, the country has welcomed a community-led hotel with the opening of Voaara on the local island of Sainte Marie (or Nosy Boraha) – home to just 30,000 people – last year. Voaara is the first property by Kiwi Collection founder Philippe Kjellgren, currently featuring just seven thatched-roof bungalows and one private villa, although more accommodations are planned. Its offering is certainly lush, from an outdoor cinema to several gastronomic outlets that include La Plage, which is under the direction of Spanish Chef Aleixandre Sarrion and Malagasy Sous-Chef Jean Notia Vincent, and a Bird’s Nest private dining venue for nights spent wining and dining beneath the stars.
But the resort’s commitment to being part of the local community is arguably its forte: with a plan to hire a minimum of 80 percent local staff not only to provide employment but also to ‘ensure local traditions, culture and warmth are celebrated throughout’, and a percentage of the hotel’s profits being used to support local schools, Voaara is intent to create positive change within its immediate environment. In doing so, it perhaps paves the way for more responsible tourism in Madagascar, which has boundless potential as a destination that attracts visitors in search of equal parts epic nature, wildlife, culture and escapism, while consistently ranking among the world’s poorest countries. The resort’s first guests, we hear, have already taken to the local population, and quad-bike tours around the island, which include the option to visit an orphanage and bring gifts or make donations, are becoming a go-to activity. Though Voaara might be a fairly new arrival on Malagasy shores, it aligns itself with a new generation of resorts that don’t just offer blissful seclusion, but rather seek to offer opportunities for visitors and locals to uplift one another.
We’ll travel to live La Dolce Vita
As the birthplace of the Renaissance, Italy appropriately appears to have celebrated at least one Renaissance each year for the past decade or so. First, we watched in awe as Puglia’s hospitality offering transformed from somewhat dated places to stay to culturally immersive hotels; then, Sicily was in the spotlight after the island played host to season 2 of The White Lotus (as well as to ‘some high-end gays’, as Jennifer Coolidge’s iconic character put it in the series). More recently, Rome upped its ante as a major European go-to destination, finally getting on top of its notorious rubbish disposal issues, unlocking previously inaccessible attractions – the Archeological Park of the Celio and the Museum of the Forma Ubris arrived in 2024 – and opening up a roster of industry-leading luxury hotels.
When deciding where to travel to in 2025, however, our eyes are on Northern Italy, where even during high season, tourism, albeit as developed as could be, hasn’t turned destinations upside down in quite the same way it has done elsewhere. Milan, routinely discounted as industrial and even unattractive until just a few years ago, has made a name for itself as a stepping stone for the continent’s young, cultural elite, which has started to turn its backs on less affordable cities. As such, it’s unsurprising that Milan now ranks as Europe’s second official fashion capital (after Paris), having taken over from London, where underfunding of arts and culture, soaring rents and even Brexit have led to an exodus of talent across the creative industries. Not far from the city, Lake Como is also about to welcome a new type of resort to its glamorous shores that will no doubt disrupt the local status quo.
Two hospitality giants are in the process of expanding their footprint in Northern Italy, with Milan’s 2024-opened Casa Brera having officially joined Marriott’s The Luxury Collection as of this month. The hotel’s gastronomic outlets are indicative of its ambition, with Scena, a fine-dining restaurant under the direction of Michelin-starred Chef Andrea Berton, being the main affair. Further culinary delights await guests at sky bar Etereo and the Haruo Ichikawa-led, Japanese restaurant Odachi, among other venues. The building, brought into the 21st century by one of the world’s most in-demand architects and designers, Patricia Urquiola, features 116 rooms and suites that pay homage to Milanese art, while a rooftop pool adds a contemporary touch and private members’ club feel.
Meanwhile, another Marriott luxury player is preparing to open in Como in the spring: with The Lake Como EDITION, the region will welcome perhaps its most explicitly design-forward brand (along with its cult following, that swears by the hotel company dreamt up by nightlife-gone-hotel visionary Ian Schrager). Details about the property have been kept somewhat under wraps, though its 19th-century building and location on the lake’s western shores respectively promise immersion in la dolce vita and glorious views of the lake and the Bellagio mountains beyond. Guests can look forward to a floating pool and a number of indoor and outdoor dining outlets, while the property’s 145 guest rooms, including two penthouse suites, will no doubt reflect the EDITION-typical stance on minimalist yet warm interiors that marry a subdued colour palette with statement furniture and, some might say, a welcome dose of architectural bravado.
Never one to miss a party, IHG’s luxury flagship for conscious travellers, Six Senses, has also announced plans to open on the shores of Italy’s most fashionable lake, though its Como resort – a complete renovation of the Grand Hotel Cadenabbia – isn’t slated to open until 2028. The brand’s other Northern Italian launch, in contrast, will arrive in the second half of 2025: Six Senes Milan promises to be exemplary of the city’s newly found image as a disruptor across industries, with sustainably sourced materials throughout and the inclusion of the brand’s Earth Lab, which invites guests to get creative and learn about environmentally conscious life hacks (ever wanted to make your own, chemical-free detergent? This is your chance). The hotel, which will feature 68 guest rooms including 15 suites and two with plunge pools, will open in the upscale Brera neighbourhood and, in true Six Senses fashion, serve not just as a hotel, but as an urban retreat where bio-hacking meets spiritual discovery and community at the forefront of wellness trends.
Those looking for a classic Italian holiday by the sea needn’t despair, either, for we predict the island of Ischia will be the place-to-go-if-you-know this year. Once a little in the shadows of nearby Capri and the Amalfi Coast, Ischia’s appeal in 2025 lies precisely in its status as a destination frequently overlooked by travellers in search of the obvious. Ischia is still authentically Italian: here, dolce far niente isn’t so much a buzzword but just how things are, and a small number of hotels have made it their mission to uphold a no-glitter approach to hospitality. Leading the way is the 65-key San Montano Resort & Spa which, under the direction of the local De Siano hoteliers family since 2008, has evolved into a veritable soul sanctuary, with eleven outdoor thermal pools as well three restaurants and a sunset-lounge-meets-piano-bar, all set amidst three hectares of lush greenery atop Monte Vico (with, you guessed it, glorious views of the Bay of Naples).
When the hotel reopens for the season on April 18th, it will do so with a bang, launching the brand-new Lighthouse Suite, arguably its most experiential accommodation option. The 160 sqm/1,720 sqft suite will feature a whopping 1,000 sqm/10,760 sqft of additional, private gardens and a conservatory-style living area, while one of its two separate guest rooms will be set in a 1940s military warehouse with porthole windows. Design aficionados will appreciate the interiors which are set to pay tribute to contemporary Italian aesthetics courtesy of interior designer Claudio Pulicati, who has added his artistry to the spaces. That said, the real merit of the suite and the resort on the whole lies in its substance-over-spectacle approach, which promises to immerse guests in Ischia’s culture (concierges can arrange everything from nighttime hikes to ceramics tours and wine tastings that showcase the volcanic island’s indigenous grape varieties). With so much going for it in the way of Dolce Vita, the resort is firmly on our 2025 bucket list.
Finally, a new way to see the country that doesn’t just embrace the idea of la dolce vita but is in fact named after it, is the La Dolce Vita Orient Express, easily one of the world’s most exciting new luxury trains in years. Set to welcome guests from the spring, La Dolce Vita Orient Express will offer eight one-to-two-night itineraries showcasing a mix of classic destinations – Rome, Siena, Portofino – and lesser-visited but equally intriguing locales, from Monferrato to Maratea. Journeys will cover no less than 14 regions and 131 cities, giving passengers unprecedented access to the immense wealth of arts, crafts and ways of living that make Italy the uniquely diverse and joyful country it is. We’re particularly intrigued by the prospect of excursions set to include the option of private visits to Venice’s famous landmarks, cave restaurant lunches in Matera or cannoli-making masterclasses in Taormina, that will allow guests to truly delve under the skin of the destination, as opposed to just looking out at its landscapes (which, if you ask us, is too often the case with train journeys).
Back on board, the train’s interiors pay homage to the dolce vita of the 1960s and 1970s while honouring artists and architects from Agostino Bonalumi and Lucio Fontana to Carlo Scarpa. La Dolce Vita Orient Express, whose décor was spearheaded by Italy’s Dimorestudio, treads refreshingly lightly on pomp: there are no wildly intricate patterns or statement features begging to be photographed. Instead, an overall insistence on calm surfaces and atmospheric lighting create what to us looks as though it might just set the benchmark for a clean, modern, and arguably more elegant take on luxury railway journeys (or ‘cruises’, as the brand calls them) going forward. That La Dolce Vita Orient Express has brought three-Michelin-starred Chef Heinz Beck – who is also the founder of the Order of the Knights of Italian Cuisine, an organisation dedicated to promoting the country’s culinary traditions – on board gives you an idea of just how intent the train company’s owner, hospitality giant Accor, is on creating an experience that will be emblematic of all the best Italy has to offer. For us, it’s full steam ahead.
We’ll travel to spread out
While we’ll hardly need convincing to book a trip to Italy this year, more remote destinations are also on our radar. Some are truly ‘out there’, of course, and require elaborate travel itineraries and time-consuming transfers (though, mind you, the world’s most magical destinations often await at the end of a flight on a plane the size of a sardine tin). Others are easier to reach than their exotic-sounding names and under-the-radar status might have you think, yet deliver on an away-from-it-all feel that’s risen to the top of luxury travel trends in recent years. To us, travelling further isn’t just about discovering the undiscovered, but also about making a commitment to bringing responsible tourism to communities that rarely benefit from it. Travel already supports greater wealth distribution between Europe and North America, but if you ask us, lesser-visited destinations within the two (and, more significantly still, other geographical regions) belong on any conscious travel itinerary in 2025.
One company set to send holidaymakers off to remote locales this year is Leo Trippi. The travel specialist’s portfolio of chalets in the world’s most prestigious ski resorts, from Aspen to Andermatt, is enviable, to say the least, and its award-winning service ensures travellers feel accompanied each step of the way, regardless of where they’re headed – which is just what makes Leo Trippi an ideal springboard into further-flung destinations, too. One of these is Patagonia, where the Rio Palena Lodge gives skiers the chance to scale the legendary Andes mountain range, conveniently serving as the backdrop of the chalet and its 13-acre grounds. Heli-skiing is the order of the day here between October and December, with the landscape catering to skiers with varying levels of confidence. That said, hiking trails, white-water rafting or mountain biking opportunities also promise epic adventure in a place that, while just 25 minutes by car from the local commune of Palena, might just feel as though you had it all to yourself. That’s if you’re not sharing the two-storey lodge, which boasts a total of seven double rooms, outdoor cedar wood hot tubs, a wood-fired barrel sauna, fireplaces to cosy up next to and a designated bar for champagne-laced nights at the end of the world… Then again, who wouldn’t want to share?
Leo Trippi’s Fjellborg Arctic Lodge, too, deserves a space on our bucket list this year. Located along the shore of Lake Vakkara, some 200 km north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland, the property is so out-of-the-way, that getting here requires an hour-long dog sled ride (not that you’d mind). The lodge comprises a cabin set with three bedrooms on the ground floor and a master bedroom as well as additional bunk beds on the first floor, alongside the main building, where dinners are an occasion and a lounge invites guests to slow down and enjoy views of the untouched surrounds – so do, conveniently, a sauna and a hot tub beneath the stars. It’s the experiential offering of Fjellborg Arctic Lodge that seals the deal for us, however: activities don’t just include the usual snowshoeing or ice sculpting, but also snowmobile excursions to a camp of Lapland’s semi-nomadic Sámi people. At its best, travel to remote corners of the world always entails an element of interaction with communities that have made them their home. The prospect of learning about a less accessible culture while visiting its homeland, hence, will have clued-in travellers going the extra mile in 2025.
One place so secluded it’s often visited as a ‘stopover’ en route to the world’s least-visited continent, Antarctica, is also increasingly in the spotlight for its pristine wilderness. The Falkland Islands are arguably worth a journey on their own, not least due to the South Atlantic archipelago’s unique wealth of wildlife. Visitors who have ticked off the Big Five of an African safari can look forward to coming face-to-flipper with the Falklands’ ‘Famous Five’ – King, Gentoo, Southern Rockhopper, Macaroni and Magellanic penguins – while seals, dolphins and whales are at home in the waters surrounding the nearly 800 islands that make up the destination. The Falklands are the kind of place where travellers are near-guaranteed to encounter more animals than people, though, despite their small population of less than 4,000, they also boast a cultural offering. This isn’t Paris, of course, but a number of museums, annual dances and even the planet’s southernmost certified marathon, which takes at the end of March, should put the Falklands high up on the list of any travellers in search of adventurous, far-flung escapes in 2025 and beyond.
Finally, there’s also the allure of Australia’s lesser-visited corners, which are best explored through the country’s tourist board’s designated Signature Experiences of Australia program. Seven collections (including everything from Luxury Lodges of Australia to Australian Wildlife Journeys) showcase the destination’s outstanding tourism and hospitality offering, allowing travellers to go beyond the usual and seek out locales otherwise often overlooked. There’s Christmas Island, for one, which is known for its annual migration of some 60 million red crabs – though if you’re less keen on all that crawls, look towards the trees for the spectacle of over 80,000 seabirds breeding here each year, or take to the seas where +60 dive sites are home to dolphins, turtles and a kaleidoscope of rainbow-coloured fish. Dubbed the ‘Galápagos of the Indian Ocean’, the island is only one of many remote Australian destinations (others include the paradisal Cocos Keeling Islands, Bremer Bay or Kakadu and Arnhem Land) that, while requiring just a little more travel, teem with authentic experiences and a spirit of discovery. And if you’re lucky, it might just feel like you have them all to yourself.
