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What’s Trending
01/ On Google
“Virtuoso Travel” trended +50% this week amid buzz from the network’s annual Travel Week, where it reported double-digit growth in luxury bookings for 2025 and strong demand despite wider travel slowdowns.
02/ With Media
This week, media were interested in “home away from home” accommodations that hotels can’t match, travel expert insight for tips on travel to Costa Rica, interior designers to speak on modern design, how to best BYOB, and more.
Virtuoso’s 2025 Travel Week insights reveal that luxury travelers are prioritizing milestone celebrations, multi-generational trips, and authentic cultural experiences. Celebration travel is up 23% year-over-year, with more than half of clients planning multi-generational journeys. Wellness, cultural immersion, and local engagement remain key motivators. At the same time, sustainability is increasingly influential—supporting local economies ranks as the top priority, and 64% of travelers are willing to pay more for companies with sustainable practices.
03/ In the Zeitgeist
Taylor Swift announced her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, during a record-breaking appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce’s New Heights podcast, revealing an October 3 release date and a Sabrina Carpenter collaboration.
Industry Insights
A group of travel influencers were denied boarding after following ChatGPT’s advice and skipping the required ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) application, a mishap that went viral and underscored the risks of relying on AI for official travel guidance without verifying with trusted sources.
“Grief travel” is emerging as a way to process loss, according to mental health experts. Intentional trips, whether to a memory-filled place, a wellness retreat, or somewhere entirely new, can offer the space and perspective that daily life rarely allows, creating room for reflection and emotional release.
The rise of “quiet vacations” – a trip where employees appear to be online and working – is highlighting deeper workplace culture issues. Experts link the trend to blurred remote-work boundaries and a fear of being seen as slacking off, noting that it risks burnout, missed deadlines, and employer backlash.
Luxury hotel check-in times are getting later, meaning guests paying premium rates may get less than 24 hours in their rooms. Hotels cite longer housekeeping needs, but critics argue the shift passes labor costs onto guests while rates remain high.
Bark Air, the luxury “dog-first” airline that has flown more than 1,000 pups since launching in 2024, is expanding into ground services with its new Companion Concierge. The standalone offering coordinates every detail of pet travel, from managing international paperwork and sourcing dog-friendly hotels to crafting custom itineraries.
Air Canada flight attendants could strike as early as Saturday after contract talks with the union stalled over wages and rest provisions, prompting the airline to suspend flights. A walkout could disrupt travel across North America, where Air Canada controls 34% of Canada’s market and operates nearly 200 daily U.S. flights.
A Nevada court awarded $30 million to Cabo Platinum, a Los Cabos-based luxury villa rental and management company, in a case against Las Vegas influencer David Oancea over stolen business contacts, diverted bookings, and false claims.
Canadian car visits to the U.S. plunged 37% in July, while air travel went down 26%, marking the seventh consecutive month of declining inbound Canadian travel. States along the northern border are being hit the hardest, and the country stands to lose upwards of $21 billion in travel-related exports if the trajectory continues through the end of the year.
Cruise lines are embracing longer port stays in 2025, with brands from Azamara to Sliversea offering slow-travel itineraries for deeper cultural immersion. Guests can now enjoy local nightlife, cultural performances, immersive tours, and authentic dining without rushing back to the ship.
More than 10,000 hotels across Europe have joined a class action lawsuit against Booking.com, claiming its price parity violated EU competition law and cost them significant revenue. Organized by HOTREC, a Brussels-based hospitality association, the suit seeks to recover commissions paid between 2004 and 2024.
