Let’s reconvene in five years to assess how these predictions hold up. Wishing you a wonderful 2025 and an exciting new chapter ahead!

10. Overtourism and Growing Discontent: The issue of overtourism will spark growing dissatisfaction. The most competitive destinations will be those that proactively address this challenge with bold, effective solutions.

9. The Era of Automation in Tourism: Over the next five years, we’ll see widespread automation in the tourism industry. Tasks that can be performed by algorithms or machines—cleaning, monitoring, organizing, welcoming guests—will increasingly be automated.

8. Sustainability Challenges: The average tourist consumes more water and energy and produces more waste than a local resident. The future of tourism depends on reversing this trend. The technology exists, but implementing it requires significant investment in an undercapitalized sector.

7. Emerging Destinations and New Tourism Geographies: The map of global tourism will shift. Some of today’s top destinations will lose prominence, while unexpected newcomers will rise. (Ask me someday about my predictions for these surprises.)

6. Higher Transport Costs: The cost of transportation will rise due to measures targeting fossil fuels. This will likely lead to shorter trips but longer stays.

5. Blurred Lines Between Tourism and Mobility: While tourism will grow significantly, general mobility will expand even faster—think international students, expats, and digital nomads. The line between tourism and non-tourism will become increasingly blurred.

4. A Boom in Domestic Tourism: The true growth story of the next five years will be domestic tourism. Within a decade, domestic travel is expected to double globally.

3. Leisure Time on the Rise: Leisure time will see a sharp increase due to demographic shifts and automation. The main competitor for tourism won't be work but the various ways people choose to spend their growing free time.

2. Growth Driven by Asia's Middle Class: Tourism will expand as Westerners travel more, but the real engine of growth will be the emergence of a massive middle class in Asia. This demographic will demand its fair share of tourism experiences.

1. More International Tourists: The number of international tourists will increase significantly, growing at a rate of at least 3% annually. There's no sign of a slowdown on the horizon.