Most professionals have now heard of the “SetJetting” trend whereby people are travelling to places that have featured in movies and TV shows, but “Memoirs in Motion” pertain to documentaries in which clients are the star of their own show. This trend highlights how high-net-worth individuals are increasingly hiring professional film crews and camera people to document their vacations and expeditions, creating polished, cinematic recordings of particularly special journeys and expeditions. It reflects a growing desire for personalised storytelling and the preservation of memories in dynamic and visually stunning formats, elevating travel experiences to a form of personal legacy. The days of home slide shows may be behind us but the reality is, most people have thousands of photos and video clips stored on their phones that they never look at (bar the ones that get posted on social media). This means there are few opportunities to share retrospectives of trips with friends and family. Answering this need, Cookson Adventures takes inspiration from David Attenborough documentaries, providing clients with a team of cinematographers who can create everything from daily film edits that are screened in the lodge or a super yacht’s media room in the evening, to epic reels for clients to share on social media and mini-documentaries on conservation projects they’ve been involved in

The term “bucket list”, which describes the things people want to do and see before they die, has been dominating the travel media landscape for several years. However, people are now less concerned about longterm scheduling. Instead, the focus has shifted toward short-term rewards and a “carpe diem” attitude. In 2025 and beyond, luxury travellers want to celebrate living in the moment. With this in mind, Globetrender and Virtuoso coined the term “F**kIt Lists” to represent the thirst for more spontaneous, frivolous, fun and liberating experiences that don’t necessarily require the same level of complex planning.

Multi-generational tourism is nothing new, but from 2025, for the first time in human history, seven generations of people will be travelling at the same time. This is because the world’s first “Beta Babies” will be born to Gen Z parents (aged 16-30). These infant offspring will be joined by Generation Alpha (aged one to 15 in 2025), Generation Y (Millennials), Generation X, Boomers and the Matures. Most pertinent for the coming year will be the emergence of “XZ Beta Travel”, whereby a new generation of young parents will be travelling will their children and Gen X parents, who will frequently be footing the bill for vacations. No longer a demographic to be overlooked by the luxury travel industry, Gen Z accounts for about 2 billion people on Earth and is expected to represent 27% of the global workforce by 2025. What’s more, they are a powerful and often highly aspirational consumer class.

When planning travel, most people focus on where they want to go and what they want to do, so it’s easy to overlook how clients might want to feel. Most travellers can relate to the desire to deeply rest and relax, only to be lying by the pool thinking about work. In reality, the best itinerary might have been one that involved hiking and biking in the day, using nature and physical activity as a distraction from email – thus unlocking a proper disconnect from professional responsibilities. As travel advisors tap into clients’ true motivations by asking the right questions, they can better appreciate and respond to their deeper human needs. As a consequence, the trend for “Mood Boarding” will gain prominence in the predeparture consultancy phase. As philosopher Alain de Botton wrote in his book The Art of Travel, “the problem with going away is that you take yourself with you”. He describes a time when he was invited to Madrid for a conference, “yet despite the wealth of beauty around me I could not drag myself out of bed”. In order for travel to “work it’s therapeutic effect”, De Botton argues that we need to explore what the purpose of these trips that promise “outdoor fun”, “family adventure” or “culture weekends” actually mean for our psyches. In short, we must consider the inner journey as important as the outer journey. The itineraries are categorised by: The Meal, The Event, The Challenge, The Journey and The Celebration. One option is to have a gourmet banquet inside a volcano in the Galapagos Islands that is illuminated by a thousand candles. The idea is that the experience encourages you to be fully present in the moment with others; which by design is innately therapeutic.

According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness tourism is predicted to grow by 16.6% annually, reaching US$1.4 trillion in 2027, but a new sub-trend for hyperspecific “cures” is taking the form of Silver Bullet Wellness – sending clients home with healthy habits and a roadmap for longevity. For luxury travellers seeking more than pampering and juice cleanses, the desire for personal optimisation is driving health-obsessed consumers to seek out treatments for everything from insomnia and cognitive decline to heart break and disease prevention. There are even spas emerging that are dedicated to healthy life extension programmes, as longevity takes over from skindeep anti-aging therapies. Leading the way are hotspots such as Ecuador and Colombia. For time-poor professionals, burnt-out parents or even retirees who want “bang for their buck” when it comes to wellness, it’s becoming increasingly desirable to book mind and body boosting retreats that provide laserfocused adjustments to the way they think, live and nurture themselves. These intensive and, at times, radical transformations often come with a hefty price.