When it comes to trends, the last five years have been head-spinning. First there was armchair travel, then road trips, then revenge travel. People have taken trips in big groups and alone, to the remotest corners of the earth and the busiest cities. Through it all, everyone has been obsessed with wellness. To help us get a handle on the new reasons and ways to travel in 2025, we tapped our extensive network of specialists. From the rise of nocturnal travel to the meaning of “JOMO,” here’s what they think you should know.

For the full list of Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Travel Specialists, visit our travel specialists homepage, now updated with our expanded and stronger-than-ever network of advisors for 2025, featuring experts for every trip and traveler imaginable.

More and more luxury hotel brands are coming out with their own sea-faring vessels. Aman

Hotels are hitting the high seas

In the coming years expect more resort brands to take their five-star service out on the water. “This is perfect for luxury travelers who might be cruise curious,” says Craig Mungary of Elite Global Journeys. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection launched the trend in 2022 with the 149-suite Evrima; this year the company will add its third luxury ship, Luminara. Next year Four Seasons will unveil a 95-suite ship in the Caribbean; Orient Express’s 54-cabin Corinthian will sail the Adriatic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean; and Aman will introduce a 50-suite vessel in 2027.

Multi-gen travel isn’t just about getting together—now it’s also about splitting up

Large family reunions with attendees ranging in ages from one to 100 have become hugely popular in recent years, despite all the jigsaw-puzzle logistics that come with them. Now there’s a shift back to more intimate journeys, says Catherine Heald of Remote Lands: “When fewer people are involved, these types of trips are easier to coordinate and can focus on interests in common, whether it’s hiking or scuba diving or artistic pursuits.” Suddenly it’s okay if not everyone does the same thing: A water-loving mother and son might go surfing in Oahu for spring break, while a foodie dad-and-daughter duo heads to Rome to learn to make pasta over summer vacation. Siobhan Byrne of Adams & Butler is seeing the comeback of skip-gen travel too. “I’ve done trips for grandparents who take their grandchildren traveling to give the parents a break and bond with the kids at the same time,” she says. “We designed an Irish heritage trip, connecting with family roots in Dublin, for a nine-year-old and her grandmother. They absolutely loved it.”

Ashlea Sweet is an agent that specialises in business and luxury leisure travel, offering exclusive perks through elite partnerships like Virtuoso and Mandarin Oriental. Backed by 15+ years in travel and hospitality, she provides the seamless, tailored experiences with a proactive, people-focused approach that a luxury client demands. Ahead of the Travel Weekly Luxury Roadshow, taking place in Sydney on 17 March, Brisbane on 18 March and Melbourne on 19 March, we caught up with Ashlea to see what she thinks is hot in the luxury market right now.

When did you start specialising in luxury, and what drew you to the market?

2025 marks my 16th year in travel, and I’ve been fortunate to be part of the luxury community for about eight years.

After spending considerable time in the corporate space, I wanted to pivot into curating elevated experiences for my clients who, over time, truly feel like family.

Luxury is about so much more than a hotel or a small-ship cruise; it’s the entire journey. We act as a concierge, adding exclusive touches that make every trip feel exceptional.

There’s something special about receiving a message from a client who has just arrived at their Paris hotel to find champagne, flowers, and macarons waiting for them. Or knowing that after a long day of work, they’ll return to a beautifully framed photo of their family by their bedside because we anticipated they’d be missing home. These details matter, and our concierge teams go above and beyond to ensure every client feels personally cared for.

What is the key to selling luxury?

Understanding your client and knowing your product inside and out.

There’s no longer room in the market to rely on “top 10” lists and assume those properties are the best fit. The most exceptional hotels often stay under the radar, maintaining exclusivity.

Being part of a leading consortia – like Virtuoso and our preferred partner programs – is invaluable. These relationships allow us to ensure our clients receive the highest level of care and exclusive benefits.

We spend time on location, working closely with our preferred partners, because expertise comes from firsthand experience. Luxury travel is about more than making a booking; it’s about understanding our clients’ dreams and supporting them at every step.

What do luxury clients value most in 2025, and has this changed in recent years?

In 2025, luxury is all about experiences.

Booking flights, hotels, and cruises is just the foundation – the real magic happens on the ground.

It’s returning to a favourite hotel and being greeted like family, gliding through customs with an express service, or arriving at a private island resort to find their children’s favourite nanny from a past trip running in for a hug.

Our clients are incredibly well-travelled. They have a vision of where they want to go, and we take the time to map out their next two to three years, ensuring they experience it all.

Anthony Goldman recently spoke about “lux jacking,” and I couldn’t agree more. It’s no longer enough to be rated five stars; a property needs soul, exceptional service, and a special essence that leaves an imprint on a client’s memory.

In the past, booking a flight and hotel may have been sufficient. Today, that approach feels incomplete—where’s the magic? Where’s the lasting impression? Our clients’ expectations have risen, and in turn, so have ours. Fortunately, our preferred partners share our vision for truly exceptional service.

What do you consider to be the largest areas of growth in the market?

Luxury yachting!

With the arrival of Ritz-Carlton Yachts, Four Seasons, Aman, and Orient Express in the ultra-luxe cruise market, demand for small-ship cruising has never been higher. This shift has broadened the demographic of cruise travellers and opened new opportunities for multi-generational travel.

These intimate vessels allow access to remote destinations that larger ships cannot reach, offering a more exclusive experience.

Another area of significant growth is barefoot luxury. Over the past year, requests for private island escapes have surged – and this trend has only continued in 2025. Whether for solo travellers, couples, or multi-generational families, our clients are prioritising exclusive, high-end experiences that focus on sustainability, elevated cuisine, and deep connections with nature. The focus is on quality time, authenticity, and a seamless, highly personalised experience.

Dream Vacations and CruiseOne celebrate website updates with some members of their marketing and technology teams (Photo Credit: Watson Visuals).

Since its founding on Jan. 1, 2005, by brothers Brad and Jeff Tolkin, World Travel Holdings (WTH) has become a dominant force in the leisure travel and franchise industries. As the nation’s largest cruise agency, it also operates a top-ranked travel agency franchise and several cruise brands in the UK. Beyond that, the company manages cruise sales for many of the world’s travel brands and is a premier distributor of luxury villas. Most recently, in September 2024, Southwest Airlines joined World Travel Holdings as a private-label partner brand.

Due to their significant contributions to the cruise industry, Brad and Jeff were inducted into the Cruise Lines International Association Hall of Fame in 2014. Among their many successes within the industry is WTH’s travel agency franchise organization, Dream Vacations/CruiseOne, which reached a milestone of 2,000 franchise locations in March 2024. Recommend was able to chat with Brad about the organization’s many milestones and other travel industry happenings this past November during the 2024 Dream Vacations/CruiseOne National Conference, which took place aboard Celebrity Ascent.

‘A Remarkable Experience’

Our “mission statement,” says Brad, “is to deliver a remarkable experience. That’s what guides us.” To create that remarkable experience for consumers, travel advisors need the latest tools, and on that note, Brad pointed to the “great technology” that was announced during the 2024 conference. Included among the new tech tools was a newly designed website homepage and easy-to-use content management system tool. “WTH has over 150 people in the technology division, and we spend a lot of time on research and development.” However, he stresses, “we’re not a company that chases the flavor of the moment; we look at things that are important to the franchisees.” He uses the newly designed website homepage as an example. “With this new technology that we have delivered, franchisees can now make up their own homepages or ‘storefronts.’ You want to just focus on luxury travel? That’s what your website is going to be. It’s totally customizable.”

Bullish on the Travel Economy

Brad is “bullish about the travel economy because travel is so important to the consumer today. I just think that the generations that have continued to come into this world, they grew up with travel and value travel.” That said, he does note that “we live in a cyclical society and one day we will have a recession. This country hasn’t had a recession in 15 years. Anyone under 35, they’ve never faced the reality of a recession,” although he acknowledges that the pandemic did cause economic uncertainty, but that “only lasted 60 days.” He says, “We have to stay open to the possibility that we could have a downturn,” and advisors need to remember that it’s the “consumer who has the loudest voice in the room,” he says. “It’s not the cruise lines or the hotels or the airlines that decide the selling price, it’s the consumer.”

Yet, he adds, “I’ve been in this business 45 years now, and I’ve seen many different ups and downs in the industry. And travel really continues to march on, but pricing is affected. We sell the most perishable inventory in the world—when ‘this cabin,’ [referring to the cabin we were conducting the interview in] sails tonight, if no one’s occupied it, it will never be occupied again. But because it’s the most perishable inventory in the world, the hard asset owners—the airlines, the hotels, the cruise lines—they have to do something to move the space, they need to put people in those seats, cabins and rooms. So, you’re going to have transactions, but in tough economic times, transactions go up, margins go down.”

But because the “generations that have come into the world have grown up with this, they feel entitled to it. And I think that’s a good way of looking at it.”

Hug Your Customer

“My big tip for anyone in any business is hug your customer,” says Brad. “I use that expression because, as I mentioned, our tagline at World Travel Holdings is to deliver a remarkable experience. We’ll never get to utopia, but we’ll always be on the track to improve that experience.

“Travel advisors have done wonderfully since the return of COVID. The consumer is seeking out the advice of a professional travel advisor more than ever; they like that professionalism. They love the comfort of dealing with a travel advisor. I have three children, they’re all Millennials and they all use a travel agent because they value their time. And I don’t see that stopping.”

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Here at Vogue, we review countless numbers of weddings each year for potential coverage. Consistently, a handful of planners show that they are simply the best in the business, whether it is orchestrating a once-in-a-lifetime affair in a far-flung location, crafting creative events with an outstanding experience, or simply just exhibiting beautiful taste. Below, our favorite wedding planners in the United States, Canada, and abroad.

Best Wedding Planners in NYC and the Northeast United States

Augusta Cole: Based in New York City