Travel Trends 2025 reveal Tokyo at #1 for summer travel demand, driven by a mix of currency advantages, bucket‑list appeal, and growing interest in the Asia‑Pacific region. According to Mastercard’s Economics Institute, flight bookings for June through September show Tokyo surging past Osaka and Paris to become the most sought‑after global destination this year.

Currency swings have long influenced cross‑border travel, and Japan’s yen depreciation remains a key factor in Tokyo’s rise. Yet Mastercard stresses that economic drivers are just one piece of the puzzle. Passion‑led choices — from cultural bucket‑list experiences to beach getaways — are shaping where people go.

The Asia‑Pacific Ascendancy

APAC destinations dominate the top trending list. Osaka follows Tokyo as the second‑highest gainer in relative tourism demand. Other spots include Palma de Mallorca, Nha Trang, and Beijing. Beach towns like Rio de Janeiro and Hurghada also rank highly, showing that sun‑and‑sand escapes remain perennial favorites.

Mastercard analysed the shift by comparing each city’s share of total bookings through March 2025 against its 2024 share. This relative‑gain method highlights destinations riding strong momentum, rather than just raw visitor numbers.

Value, Adventure, and Wellness

Europeans and North Americans alike are prioritizing experiences that deliver personal value. Whether ticking off a bucket‑list shrine in Kyoto or diving into local cuisine in Palma de Mallorca, travelers are investing in meaningful moments. Wellness retreats, adventure excursions, and cultural deep‑dives all feature prominently in the Mastercard report’s findings.

For instance, Tirana, Albania, makes a surprise appearance as one of Europe’s fastest‑growing urban destinations—largely thanks to Italian travelers seeking affordability and authenticity. Meanwhile, long‑standing favorites like Paris dip slightly as new hotspots capture the imagination.

Monitoring Shifts in North America

The report also flags early signs of reduced U.S. travel from Canada and Europe. In March, flights between Western Europe and the U.S. dipped 1.2% year‑over‑year, and vehicle crossings into Canada fell 32%. These shifts underline how political and economic climates can reshape traditional travel corridors.

Despite these fluctuations, Mastercard’s chief economist for Europe, Natalia Lechmanova, notes that “purpose‑driven experiences remain the backbone of global travel choices, even amid uncertainty.”

To identify the cities with the biggest jumps in popularity, MEI calculated the change in flight bookings to each destination between 2019 and 2024 using data from OAG. A few observations:

• The top emerging destinations were Tokyo, Japan; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Osaka, Japan. Amid the depreciation of the Japanese Yen (JPY), Tokyo became the most visited city in the world in 2024 — displacing Bangkok, which had held the top spot for the past decade.
• Recent reforms made it easier to travel to Saudi Arabia which spurred a rise in passenger traffic to Jeddah and Riyadh. The government’s economic diversification efforts have also attracted newcomers: Investment in massive projects has created jobs and boosted business travel, while the development of tourism and leisure infrastructure is turning the kingdom into an emerging leisure destination.
• A surge in European visitors boosted Tirana, Albania, into the top 15. In fact, Tirana gained the largest increase in European visitors — led by tourists from Italy — of any city in 2024.
• Buoyed by a strong U.S. dollar, many Americans chose to travel abroad over the last few years, from Cancun to Tokyo to Rome.