What will keep travellers most excited in 2025
Seeking athletic thrills: Getting closer to your sport or team
As television shows exploring the behind-the-scenes world of professional sports continue to break new ground with audiences, growth in sports travel to witness these events in situ with like-minded fans is hitting a fever pitch.
You can thank popular programs like Sprint, Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Tour de France: Unchained for this heightened enthusiasm in competitive athletics.
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Chasing astronomical wonders: Stargazing and the Northern Lights
Stargazing is taken to new extremes as travellers want to explore the earthly wonders of the cosmos and resituate human existence within the infinite expanses of the universe.
Canadians are especially keen on witnessing the Northern Lights (56%), visiting an observatory (35%) or spectating a solar or lunar eclipse (33%) to experience that cosmological rush.
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Holistic rejuvenation: Retreat to wellness
For some, travelling can be a salve for the mind, spirit and body, which is influencing a growing desire to engage in health, resilience and longevity tourism. As six in ten Canadian travellers admit to placing precedence on their overall health and wellbeing, yoga and wellness retreats are experiencing year-over-year growth in searches.
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Feeling immersed in a masterpiece: Trips centred around immersive art experiences
With 53% of Canadians admitting to crossing international borders to engage with new cultures, immersive art installations are becoming increasingly popular for those looking to amplify their time observing important works from all around the world.
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Giddy up: Take a cowboy-inspired trip
Whether due to the popularity of shows like America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders or the rise of twangy musical explorations from the likes of Beyoncé and Shaboozy, travellers are rounding up the family and friends and heading into the wild, wild west.
The activities most appealing to aspiring cowboys and cowgirls include eating around a campfire (43%), enjoying a farm or ranch stay (36%), sleeping under the stars (32%) and horseback riding (30%).
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In full bloom: Garden getaways
Canadians with green thumbs are looking to expand their horticultural horizons by seeking out renowned botanical gardens and phenomena, such as autumnal foliage (56%), as well as cherry blossom (55%) and sunflower fields (43%) that are at the height of their blooming season.
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Beyond the console: Tapping into the gaming community
Gen Z are increasingly flocking to worldwide conventions and gaming hotspots to heighten the thrill of gaming with likeminded etnhusiasts, traversing its status as a sub-cultural curiosity into a mainstream phenomenon. Skyscanner’s data shows a rise in flight searches to worldwide gaming conventions like GamesCom in Cologne, Germany and TwitchCon in San Diego, California.
Meanwhile, 34% of Canadians are inspired to book a trip abroad based on locations from their favourite video game, showcasing how gaming is influencing a booming travel economy in many different ways.
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Survey methodology
The Skyscanner travel survey data was collected through an online survey of 20,000 global respondents over the age of 18 in July 2024, using OnePoll's online forum. Of the 20,000 respondents, approximately 1,000 were Canadian residents.
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