Hotels
Vacation rentals
Airlines
Destinations
Travel agencies
Cruises
Car rentals
Financial institutions
Activities
For more insights into our 2025 data and how to take action, download the full report.
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2025 Traveler Value Index highlights
Read about the top takeaways from our latest research and the opportunities to set your business up for success.
A new era of travel has arrived, marked by emerging traveler trends and a deeper sense of purpose behind every journey. Our latest research report, the 2025 Traveler Value Index, explores this exciting shift.
Drawing from our survey with Wakefield Research of 11,000 respondents across 11 key markets, the report includes comparisons from our 2023 Traveler Value Index, providing critical insights into shifting traveler priorities and emerging influences.
Get the latest scoop on how people plan, what inspires them, and what makes them click “book.” These insights are your cheat code to standing out.
Travel’s growing importance
With a rising emphasis on travel, global consumers are eager to plan more trips in the next 12 months.
50%
of consumers said travel is more important to them now compared to five years ago.*
68%
are likely to book or have already booked an international trip in the next 12 months.
As travel takes on a new meaning in 2025, what are the types of trips consumers are planning over the next year? According to the research, nearly 90% of consumers are planning to take a leisure trip over the next 12 months. Compared to our 2023 Traveler Value Index, we are also seeing an almost 20% increase — from 49% to 68% — of consumers who have already booked or are likely to book an international trip in the next year.
The opportunity
Solutions including Accelerator and TravelAds and Flights Sponsored Listings can help boost your travel brand’s visibility with travelers searching for their next trip and allow you to target your ideal audience.
Merging business and leisure
How are consumers making the most of their travel planning over the next 12 months? By taking advantage of every trip planned, including combining business trips with vacations.
42%
of consumers are planning a bleisure trip.
45%
of consumers are planning a flexcation.
Compared to 29% cited in our 2023 Traveler Value Index, our 2025 study found that 42% of consumers are planning bleisure travel — tacking on a vacation at the start or end of their business trips. Nearly 45% of consumers are also planning flexcations, or a trip where you work remotely for some portion of a leisure trip.
The growth of remote and hybrid work environments has resulted in a new trend for travel planning in 2025. Consumers are taking advantage of pre-planned travel bookings to make the most of their time off.
The opportunity
Business, bleisure, and flexcation travelers provide opportunities for filling rooms and seats mid-week. For hotels and vacation rentals, make sure you are setting up your property with adequate working spaces.
Essential deals that matter most to travelers
From rising costs to economic uncertainty, it’s no wonder that nearly 60% of consumers anticipate being more price conscious in the next 12 months than they were in the past year. As inflation remains the most pressing concern impacting traveler planning in 2025, how are travel providers enticing consumers to book?
Our survey found that early booking discounts ranked as the most appealing promotion from hotel providers and vacation rentals. In addition, package booking discounts ranked as the second-most attractive promotion when booking for both hotel and airfare. Complimentary add-ons are also shown to be the most appealing promotion when booking airfare, car rentals, and activity bookings.
The opportunity
From hotel to vacation rental providers, adopting the right solutions for your business through promotion and package offerings ensures you are aligning with the priorities and preferences of your travelers.
The impact of reviews in driving bookings
As a common theme across hotel, vacation rental, and activities bookings, reviews remain a top value for consumers when booking travel. When determining where to stay, trust indicators like reviews motivate travelers to pay extra to ensure a better experience.
76%
of consumers would pay more for a hotel with better customer reviews.
75%
of consumers would pay more for a vacation rental with better customer reviews.
Among those under 40, 80% are more likely to pay more for a hotel with better reviews, and 79% would pay more for a vacation rental. Aligned to the growing importance of travel in 2025, consumers value brand trust and customer reviews when it comes to where and how they book.
The opportunity
Stand out from the competition by optimizing your hotel and vacation rental listings to ensure you’re offering the most in-demand amenities for travelers.
Social media’s growing influence
The past two years have shown the growing influence of social media across every industry, and our survey shows that travel is no exception. Compared to just 35% in our 2023 Traveler Value Index survey, more than 60% of consumers in 2025 cited social media as a source of travel inspiration.
As quickly as social media has emerged as an influential source of inspiration when booking travel, so too has the impact of influencers. From nano-influencers with a couple thousand followers to mega-influencers captivating the attention of millions, we’re witnessing the growing impact of influencers on travel recommendations. In fact, more than 70% of consumers said an influencer’s recommendation impacted their decision to book a travel element or trip, and nearly 75% of consumers would likely purchase a travel package based solely on an influencer’s recommendation.
The opportunity
Leverage our award-winning creative team at E Studio or use Travel Shops to create a personalized storefront of curated travel picks and partner with social media influencers to reach a new and highly targeted audience.
The next 12 months in travel
Travel is taking on a new meaning for consumers globally in 2025. From the top reasons consumers are planning to travel to the sources they turn to for inspiration and the deals and values that matter most to them when picking a brand, travel preferences and industry trends continue to evolve.
Check out the full report
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Greg Schulze
Chief Commercial Officer, Expedia Group
Greg is Expedia Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, overseeing global supply and a growing advertising business. He leads teams responsible for relationships with travel partners, ensuring Expedia Group travelers have access to more than three million lodging properties, airlines, activities, rental cars, cruises, and more. He has a long history with the company, holding various leadership positions for strategy, commercial, operations, and analytics. Prior to Expedia Group, Greg led pricing strategy for American Airlines.
In 2023, Greg was appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce to the US Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. He also serves on the executive committee for the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the board of directors of Traveloka. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina. He embraces a global perspective, having lived and worked in North America, Asia, and Europe.
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*Except where noted, all on-page data sourced from Expedia Group, 2025 Traveler Value Index