Silverware, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland. minutes from Dublin. Junction 10/12 on the M7. Open 7 days a week. and car parking. Groups welcome.
MUSEUM OF STYLE ICONS
Visit our free museum housing a memorable collection of couture design, artefacts and fashion items that once belonged to some of the greatest style icons of modern times including Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe & many others. Immerse yourself in Hollywood glamour. Free admission.
Visit our free museum housing a memorable collection of couture design, artefacts and fashion items that once belonged to some of the greatest style icons of modern times including Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe & many others. Immerse yourself in Hollywood glamour. Free admission.
Factory TOUR
Visit our free museum housing a memorable collection of couture design,
CRAFT TOUR
Take a guided tour of the working factory floor and meet the people behind the traditional craft practiced at Newbridge Silverware since 1934. Learn about the time honoured processes and true-life stories at the heart of one of Ireland’s most well-known and treasured brands.
THE SILVER RESTAURANT
A crusty homemade doorstop sandwich with a bowl of chunky soup, or a treat of artisan coffee and our in-house baked cake? This award winning café features freshly prepared local food with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or a sumptuous afternoon tea in a relaxed, stylish and friendly ambience.
Silverware, Newbridge, Co.
Lifestyle STORE
Browse
Browse through the complete range of much loved Irish designed products in our stylish showroom. Here you will find all of the collections on offer from our jewellery and giftware to homeware and tableware. Tax free shopping for eligible customers from outside of the EU.
LIFESTYLE STORE
the complete range of much loved Irish designed products in our stylish showroom. Here you will find all of the collections on offer from our jewellery and giftware to homeware and tableware. Tax free shopping for eligible customers from outside of the EU.
Take a guided tour of the working factory floor and meet the people behind the traditional craft practiced at Newbridge Silverware since 1934. Learn about the time honoured processes and truelife stories at the heart of one of Ireland’s most well-known and treasured brands. A crusty homemade doorstop sandwich with a bowl of chunky soup, or a treat of artisan coffee and our in-house baked cake? This award winning café features freshly prepared local food with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or a sumptuous afternoon tea in a relaxed, stylish and friendly ambience.
Browse through the complete range of much loved Irish designed products in our stylish showroom. Here you will find all of the collections on offer from our jewellery and giftware to homeware and tableware. Tax free shopping for eligible customers from outside of the EU.
Take a guided tour of the working factory floor and meet the people behind the traditional craft practiced at Newbridge Silverware since 1934. Learn about the time honoured processes and truelife stories at the heart of one of Ireland’s most well-known and treasured brands. A crusty homemade doorstop sandwich with a bowl of chunky soup, or a treat of artisan coffee and our in-house baked cake? This award winning café features freshly prepared local food with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or a sumptuous afternoon tea in a relaxed, stylish and friendly ambience.
Holiday World SHoW Jan 24-26 2025
The Low Down
When:
Friday 24 January 12.30pm – 5pm
Saturday 25 January 10am – 5pm
Sunday 26 January 10am – 5pm
Friday morning from 09.30)
Adults €10
Senior citizens €5
Students €5
Children Free
€20 special family rate for two adults & ALL their children
Parking €10.
Who’s there:
39,000 visitors
1,000 travel experts from 50 countries,
Opening of Home Holiday pavilion by Emma Blain, Lord Mayor Of Dublin
Opening of French pavilion by French ambassador Vincent Guérend
Opening of USA pavilion by US ambassador hargé d’affaires, Mr Michael Clausen www.holidayworldshow.com
WELCOME FROM THE IRISH TRAVEL AGENTS ASSOCIATION
On behalf of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) I would like to welcome you to the bright summer sunshine of Holiday World 2025.
Here 2025 will come alive, as we look to warmer months and places ahead.
Here, we can have real conversations with real people, face to face with 1,000 travel industry experts who have come to Dublin to explain how to make the best of your holiday plans. It is an opportunity not to be missed.
ferry options, Newbies include Detroit, Indianapolis and Nashville. In addition we have added frequencies and larger aircraft to key hubs.
Here too, we can learn to travel and keep our carbon emissions down. We can see the planet and save the planet at the same time.
Thanks to massive investment by the travel and aviation sector, Irish people can travel on the quietest, most modern and most fuel efficient aircraft in the industry.
Remember, all the destinations and holidays featured over this weekend are available to book with your ITAA Travel Agent – all ITAA Agents are fully licensed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation and bonded for your protection.
FRIDAY
2.00pm Routes & Choices
2.45pm Hotels: finding deals, luxury, and comfort
3.30pm Big skies and big cities: an American Odyssey
4.15pm Sail into Cruise Deals
SATURDAY SUNDAY
11.30am The Essentials When Travelling
12.15pm Ski and snow deals
1.15pm Active holidays for 2025
2.15pm Holidays with children
2.45pm Going further: long-haul destinations
3.30pm Travel Clubs
12.00pm Sail into Cruise Deals
1.30pm Ryanair: Q&A session
2.15pm Aer Lingus: Q&A session
3.00pm Beautiful island: Home holidays
3.45pm Top travel trends: Escorted & Solo Holidays
Holiday choice from Ireland has never been so broad, so varied, so comfortable and so sustainable. We have 500 direct services from all the Irish airports combined next summer, over 300 of them from Dublin, 150 from the two Belfast airport, 60 from Cork and 40 from Shannon, plus a dozen
TRAVEL Extra Corbetstown, Castlejordan, Co Meath R35D863
Tour operators, travel agents, resorts, hotels, airlines, ferry companies, railway companies, cruising companies, national and regional tourist organisations are all here, under one roof, to give you first hand and first class information on almost any destination on the planet.
ITAA Agents have the knowledge, experience and online resources to offer you an excellent, complete personal service. If you need assistance before, during or after your holiday, your Agent is ready, willing and able to help. I hope you enjoy your visit to Holiday World. Relax, explore and ask plenty of questions. You can look forward to a wonderful holiday in 2025. We are looking forward to working with you.
Angela Walsh President ITAA
Accounts : Maria Sinnott maria@bizex.ie
Distribution Manager: Shane Hourican shane@bizex.ie
It has been a whole three months since you last went on holidays (and you are still waiting for the baby buggy to show up). That is sooooh last year. Believe us, everything has changed.
CAR PARK: The former Quickpark will be operational on March 10. Dublin Airport passengers will have access to 6,100 spaces in the re-opened car park under the ‘Park2Travel’ branding. Managed by APCOA, the parking facility is on the former Quickpark site, 1.5km from the terminal, and will provide shuttle services at no extra cost. This is on top of the 18,600 long-term car park spaces under DAA management at the airport.
PRINTED Boarding
Passes: Ryanair plans to eliminate paper boarding passes by summer. All boarding passes will be processed within the app and paper will not be accepted. While just 60% of passengers used the airline’s app last year, Ryanair wants to make all passengers use the app for boarding passes. Whether they will succeed remains to be seen.
LIQUIDS: After being allowed to leave them in our bags, we now have to take
them out again. The new C3 scanners are certified to scan bags thoroughly so liquids and laptops can be left in the bag, but there are a few glitches to be sorted out before EU regulators can allow them to be used again. In the meantime, Kerry, Donegal, and Shannon airports have installed the new C3 scanners. Dublin has completed installation of the new scanners in Terminal 2 and most of Terminal 1. Head to the left if you want to pass through them.
T1: Remember, Terminal 1 hosts check-in for some longhaul flights, including Air Canada, Etihad, Hainan, and Qatar, Transavia, and Westjet.
* 100 gates: Ryanair
* 200 gates: British Airways and charters
* 300 gates: Air Canada, Air France, Egyptair, Etihad, Hainan, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Qatar, Transavia, Vueling, and Westjet.
T2 is the Aer Lingus and USA terminal, also used by American, Delta, Emirates, and United. Gates 401-6 downstairs are blocked off for much of the day by US pre-clearance. Heathrow and Gatwick flights are always on the next nearest gates. If you are flying to the Canary Islands, prepare for a long
walk to the last of the 400 gates. Even this is preferable to the walk from T2 back to the 300 gates at T1 for some Aer Lingus flights and the dreaded gate 335, from where you have to take a bus to the satellite terminal.
LOUNGES:
Dublin Airport has installed more seats in the past year. There is a great relaxation area in T1 as you approach the food hall with free WiFi and lots of power charge points, and another near security with window views of the apron. The Terminal 1 Anna Livia lounge has seating for 110 customers. Economy passengers can pay to use the facility for a walk-in price of €35 (T1) and €30 (T2). Priority Pass, DragonPass, LoungeKey, and other card consolidator access is subject to availability. Aer Lingus has a two-story lounge in T2, and transatlantic passengers can use 51st and Green in Terminal 2.
APP Dublin Airport’s app keeps evolving to show wait times, distance to gates, check-in locations, baggage belts, and estimated time to clear security. The flight departures section now comes with a trendy map. Smartphones allow passengers to
store any number of mobile boarding passes directly in the app, meaning that they do not need to have actual printed copies of their tickets. Airline apps have been updated to give gate and time-to-gate information. Sometimes a thirdparty app like FlightStats has gate change information before the information screens.
CHECK-IN
: Aer Lingus has the most, 29 check-in/ bag-drop desks at T2. The number of desks dedicated to check-in versus bag-drop varies on a daily basis depending on passenger loads. There tend to be more bag-drop than check-in desks.
BAGGAGE
: The two big airlines have different baggage policies. Ryanair encourages carry-ons, while Aer Lingus encourages checked bags. Aer Lingus charges €10 for a 10kg carry-on, which they will allow you to check in for free. Ryanair charges between €6 and €36 for priority boarding to enable you to carry on an overnight bag. There is no free option for check-in. Prices are higher on some routes. Both allow a small handbag/laptop bag for free (Aer Lingus 25x33x20 cm, Ryanair 40x20x25 cm). Both allow 10kg for carry-on (Aer Lingus 55x40x24,
Ryanair 4cm narrower at 55x40x20). These are among the more generous allowances in aviation. Be prepared for a 5kg or even 4kg limit when you are boarding some other airlines. Infants are not permitted any carry-on allowance.
F&B: Dublin Airport has new and improved food and beverage outlets, including Irish, Italian, Thai, Korean, Mexican, and Asian options, bringing the total to 40. Popular brands like Supermacs, Papa John’s, Pret A Manger, and Bluebird Coffee will be opening. Terminal 1 will see the creation of a new worldclass food hall, featuring Korean and Thai street food, an Arthur Guinness Bar, and a large Italian restaurant. Terminal 2 will also undergo improvements, including a new restaurant and bar named Fitzgerald’s.
BUS STOPS
: The departures road to Dublin airport is served by 18 operators, most served from the coach park opposite T1. There are notices in the terminal directing passengers to bus locations by zone. If you arrive at T2, it is quickest to exit by the lefthand doors and walk to the buses outdoors.
Customers can epxect a better experience in 2025
Terms and conditions apply and promotional fares are subject to availability. Book by 31/01/25 for travel between 01/04/25 and 31/10/25.
NEW ROUTES 2025
New destinations from Irish airports
Detroit is one of three new trans-Atlantic destinations from Dublin
Holiday choice from Ireland has never been so broad, so varied, so comfortable and so sustainable.
We have 307 routes from Dublin, 104 of them seasonal and 529 direct services from all the Irish airports combined next summer, 228 of them seasonal.
There are also ferry options,s from Dublin, Cork and Belfast such as Denver, Heraklion, and new trans-Atlantic services Detroit, Indianapolis and Nashville
Thanks to massive investment by the travel and aviation sector, Irish people can travel on the quietest, most modern and most fuel efficient aircraft in the industry.
Tour operators, travel agents, resorts, hotels, airlines, ferry companies, railway companies, cruising companies, national and regional tourist organisations are all at Dublin Holiday World, 1,000 travel professionals form 50 countries under one roof, to give first hand and first class information on almost any destination on the planet.
Here is your update on the our new direct services from Irish airports in 2025.
BILBAO Aer Lingus from Cork, starting April 16. Known for its modern and Gothic architecture, Bilbao is a vibrant cultural hub in Spain, famous for the Guggenheim Museum and delicious Basque cuisine.
BORDEAUX Aer Lingus from Cork, starting May 15. Renowned for its wine production, Bordeaux offers stunning architecture, historic sites, and a lively dining scene, making it a great getaway for wine lovers.
BRIVE Chalair from Kerry, starting June 29. Located in the Dordogne region of France, Brive is a charming town known for its medieval architecture,
delicious regional cuisine, and proximity to beautiful countryside and historic sites.
CANCUN TUI from Belfast International, starting June 24. A popular destination in Mexico known for its white sandy beaches and vibrant nightlife. Ideal for holidaymakers looking to relax and enjoy luxury resorts.
CORFU TUI from Cork, starting May 9. A beautiful Greek island famed for its lush landscapes, stunning beaches, and rich history. It’s a popular choice for family holidays and romantic getaways.
DALAMAN TUI from Cork, starting June 7. Servicing the Turkish Riviera, Dalaman is a popular entry point for tourists looking to explore beach resorts like Fethiye and Ölüdeniz, known for their breathtaking scenery.
DETROIT Delta from Dublin, starting May 25. Known as the Motor City, Detroit is famous for its automotive history, vibrant music scene, and cultural institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts.
ENFIDHA TUI from Dublin, starting May 19. Serving as a gateway to Tunisia’s beautiful beaches, Enfidha is popular for its resort destinations like Hammamet and Sousse, attracting sun seekers and cultural explorers.
FUNCHAL Ryanair from Shannon, starting March 30. The capital of Madeira, Funchal is famed for its stunning landscapes, botanical gardens, and warm climate. It offers a mix of natural beauty, history, and a rich culinary scene.
Groningen Emerald from Knock, starting June 7. A vibrant city in the Netherlands, Groningen is known for its rich history, lively student population, and beautiful canals, as well as its impressive architecture and cultural attractions.
INDIANAPOLIS Aer Lingus from Dublin, starting May 3. Known for its sports culture, particularly the Indianapolis 500 race, this city also offers a variety of museums and parks, making it a unique Midwestern destination.
IZMIRSunExpress from Cork, starting May 31. A vibrant coastal city in Turkey, Izmir is known for its historical sites, waterfront promenade, and as a gateway to nearby ancient cities like Ephesus.
LARNACA TUI from Dublin, starting May 14. A coastal city in Cyprus, Larnaca is known for its beautiful beaches, historical sites, and the famous salt lake, making it a vibrant holiday spot.
NASHVILLE Aer Lingus from Dublin, starting April 12. Renowned as the heart of country music, Nashville offers a lively music scene, rich culture, and historic landmarks, attracting music lovers and tourists alike.
PALMA DE MALLORCA TUI
from Shannon, starting May 6. Palma, the capital of the Balearic Islands, is known for its beautiful beaches, historic architecture, and vibrant nightlife. It’s a popular destination for sun-seekers and those looking to explore Mediterranean culture.
REUS EasyJet from Belfast International, starting June 5. Located near Tarragona, Reus is a gateway to the Costa Dorada, famous for its beach resorts and close proximity to the architectural wonders of Barcelona.
VIENNA Jet2 from Belfast International, starting November 28. The capital of Austria is celebrated for its historic palaces, cultural events, and rich musical legacy, making it a perfect city break destination.
COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
Every January unleashes a lot of travel advice, book-it and bucket lists, places to see before you diet, and spurious advice from people who have a vested interest bin extracting your valuable holiday money from the piggy bank under the bed. Confused? Too much information? Here is a whistle stop tour around the leading destinations in the world with the must-see places, some maybes, and some secrets.
AUSTRALIA
Three musts: Sydney Harbour Bridge, Ayers Rock, Barrier Reef.
Three maybes: Fraser Island, Rottnest Island, Melbourne old jail
Three secrets: Pilliga Forest, Yarrangobilly Caves, The Promenade of Bright.
AUSTRIA
Three musts: Schönbrunn Palace, Salzburg’s Old Town, Innsbruck’s Golden Roof
Three maybes: Hallstatt, Hohensalzburg Fortress, Grossglockner High Alpine Road
Three secrets: Bregenz, Semmering Railway, Riegersburg Castle
BELGIUM
Three musts: Grand Place, Brussels, Bruges Belfry Tower, Saint Bavo’s Cathedral
Three maybes: Atomium Brussels, Waterloo Battlefield, Ypres Flanders Fields Museum
Three secrets: Le Parc de Furfooz, Tournai cathedral, Hasselt,
BULGARIA
Three musts: Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral, Rila Monastery, Veliko Tarnovo
Three maybes: Boyana Church, Seven Rila Lakes, Nessebar old town.
Three secrets: Koprivshtitsa, Devetashka Cave, Belogradchik Fortress
CANADA
Musts & maybes
Three musts: Niagara Falls, Banff National Park, Rocky Mountaineer Train, Three maybes: CN Tower Toronto, Old Quebec City, Gros Morne National Park, Three secrets: Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan, Fogo Island, Gwaii Haanas National Park.
CHINA
Three musts: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Army
Three maybes: Yubeng Village, Dunhuang, Jiuzhaigou Valley
Three secrets: Guizhou’s Ethnic Villages, Tulou Clusters, Turpan,
CROATIA
Three musts: Dubrovnik, Diocletian’s Palace, Hvar Island
Three maybes: Plitvice
Lakes, Korcula Island, Rovinj
Three secrets: Vis Island, Gorski Kotar, Kornati Islands.
CUBA
Three musts: Old Havana, Varadero Beach, Vińales Valley: Three maybes: Trinidad city, El Malecón, Cienfuegos:
Three secrets: Topes de Collantes, Gibara, Baracoa Beaches
CYPRUS
Three musts: Aphrodite’s Rock, Kykkos Monastery, Paphos Archaeological Park
Three maybes: Famagusta, Cape Greco, Limassol Marina, Three secrets: Troodos Mountains, Kourion Archaeological Site, Omodos Village
CZECH REPUBLIC
Three musts: Charles Bridge, Český Krumlov, Karlovy Vady
Three maybes: Špilberk Castle, Plzeň, Telč Three secrets: Kutná Hora, Olomouc, Litomyšl
DENMARK
Three musts: Little Mermaid statue, Frederiksborg Castle, Amalienborg Palace. Three maybes: Kronborg Castle, Legoland Billund, Roskilde ship museum.
Three secrets: Mřns Klint, Ćrřskřbing, Stevns Klint
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Three musts: Saona Island, Samaná Peninsula:
Zona Colonial & Alcázar de Colón, Three maybes: Cayo Levantado, El Limón Waterfall, Los Haitises National Park
Three secrets: Bahía de las Águilas, El Morro National Park, Salto Aguas Blancas waterfall,
EGYPT
Three musts: Giza Pyramids Complex: Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Luxor Temple: Three maybes: Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel:, Temple of Karnak
Three secrets: Siq alBarid, Hermopolis Magna, El-Muizz Street, Cairo,
ENGLAND
Three musts: Tower of London, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon
Three maybes: Roman Bath, Canterbury Cath-
edral:, British Museum
Three secrets: Hadrian’s Wall Path, Lindisfarne, York Minster
ESTONIA
Three musts: Tallinn Old Town, Lahemaa National Park, Saaremaa Island
Three maybes: Viljandi, Parnu, Hiiumaa Island
Three secrets: Soomaa National Park, Kihnu Island, Setomaa
FINLAND
Three musts: Temppeliaukio Church, Rovaniemi, Suomenlinna
Three maybes: Nuuksio National Park, Turku Castle, Ranua Wildlife Park
Three secrets: Koli National Park, Kvarken Archipelago, Rauma
FRANCE
Three musts: Eiffel tower, Louvre, Mont St Michel
Three maybes: Giverny, Pont du Gard, Lavender Fields.
Three secrets: Annecy, Rocamadour, Conques.
GERMANY
Three musts: Brandenburg Gate, Neuschwanstein Castle, Cologne Cathedral
Three maybes: Dresden’s Historic Centre, Zugspitze cable car ride, The Romantic Road between Würzburg and Füssen:.
Three secrets: Spreewald Biosphere Reserve, Rügen Island, Zwinger Palace
GREECE
Three musts: Acropolis in Athens, whitewashed villages of Santorini, emple of Apollo and the Oracle In Delphi
Three maybes: Little Venice in Mykonos, Rhodes Old Town, rock formations of Meteor
Three secrets: Melissani Cave in Kefalonia, Centaurs’ Path in Pelion, Monemvasia.
HUNGARY
Three musts: Fisherman’s Bastion, Széchenyi Thermal Bath, Lake Balaton
Three maybes: Hortobágy National Park, Tapolca Lake Cave, Szent István Basilica
Three secrets: Aggtelek National Park, Pécs, Pálvölgyi Cave
ICELAND
Three musts: Golden circle of Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir,,Tingvellir National Park, Blue Lagoon, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Three maybes: Dettifoss Waterfall, Myvatn
Nature Baths:, black beaches of Snćfellsnes
Three secrets: Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, Askja Caldera, Vestmannaeyjar Islands
INDIA
Three musts: Taj Mahal in Agra, Jaipur’s Pink City Palace, Varanasi’s Ghats
Three maybes: Fatehbpr Sikri, Hampi’s Ruins:, Udaipur’s Lake Palace
Three secrets: Majuli Island in Assam, Orchha in Madhya Pradesh, Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh
ITALY
Three musts: Leaning Tower of Pisa, Vatican, Colosseum, Three maybes: Spanish Steps, Piazza del Campo in Siena, Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia Gallery
Three secrets: Baths of Caracalla, Bagno Vignoni:, Baroque Town of Noto
JAMAICA
Three musts: Bob Marley Museum, Montego Bay Hip Strip, Dunn’s River Falls, Three maybes: Blue Mountains, Negril’s Seven Mile Beach, Reach Falls
Three secrets: Green Grotto Caves, Pelican Barm, Alligator Pond in
South Manchester
LITHUANIA
Three musts: Vilnius Old Town, Trakai Island Castle, Hill of Crosses
Three maybes: Curonian Spit, Gediminas’ Tower, Rundāle Palace
Three secrets: Kaunas Pazaislis Monastery, Kernavė, Hill of Witches in Juodkrantė
MALAYSIA
Three musts: Petronas Twin Towers, Mount Kinabalu, Georgetown, Three maybes: Batu Caves, Langkawi Archipelago, Borneo Rainforest,
Three secrets: Bako National Park, Kuching Cat Museum, Ranau,
MALTA
Three musts: Mdina, Blue Grotto, St. John’s Co-Cathedral
Three maybes: Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Megalithic Temples, Three Cities: Vittoriosa, Senglea, and Cospicua, Popeye Village
Three secrets: Fomm ir-Riħ, Saluting Battery, Għar Dalam Cave
Paris authentic
COUNTRY BY COUNTRY
MEXICO
Three musts: Chichen Itza, Copper Canyon, Palenque’s Mayan ruins
Three maybes: Tulum, Sumidero Canyon, Teotihuacan ruins in Mexico city
Three secrets: Huasca de Ocampo, Real del Monte, San Juan Chimula
MOROCCO
Three musts: Jemaa el-Fnaa square in Marrakech, Sahara Desert day trip, Toubkal National Park.
Three maybes: Chefchaouen, Madrasa Bou in Fes, Essaouira medina
Three secrets: Chefchaouen’s Akchour Waterfalls, Merzouga, Todra Gorge
NETHER
LANDS
Three musts: Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Kinderdijk Windmills
Three maybes: Keukenhof Gardens, Mauritshuis museum, Hoge Veluwe National Park
Three secrets: Giethoorn, Texel, De Biesbosch National Park
NEW
ZEALAND
Three musts: Milford Sound, Tongariro National Park, Fox Glacier
Three maybes: Abel Tasman National Park, Waiheke Island, Waitomo Glowworm Caves
Three secrets: Castle Hill rock formations, Lake Tekapo, Cape Palliser and the Putangirua Pinnacles
NORTH
MACEDONIA
Three musts: Skopje Fortress and old bazaar, St. Naum Monastery, Matka Canyon
Three maybes: Bitola Ottoman market, Mavrovo National Park, Kratovo Clock Tower
Three secrets: Kriva Palanka, Vevcani carnival celebrations, Galichnik Wedding Festival
NORWAY
Three musts: Geirangerfjord, Preikestolen overlooking the Lysefjord, Mount Flřyen funicular ride
Three maybes: Vigeland Sculpture Park, Kjeragbolten, Tromso husky rides
Three secrets: Senja, Rřros,
Hellesylt waterafalls, Jotunheimen National Park
POLAND
Three musts: Warsaw’s Old Town, Wawel Castle, Auschwitz-Birkenau
Three maybes: Bialowieza Forest, Slowinski National Park, Malbork Castle
Three secrets: Bieszczady National Park, Łazienki Park, Kazimierz Dolny
PORTUGAL
Three musts: Torre de Belém, Ponta da Piedade, Obidos walled town
Three maybes: Castelo de Săo Jorge, Douro riverfront in Porto, Pena Palace In Sintra
Three secrets: Chapel of Bones in Évora,, Aveiro, Arrábida Natural Park
QATAR
Three musts: The Pearl-Qatar, Souq Waqif, Museum of Islamic Art
Three maybes: Katara Cultural Village, Al Zubarah Archaeological Site, Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum
Three secrets: Al Thakira Mangroves, Al Jassasiya Carvings, Al Khor Island
ROMANIA
Three musts: Bran Castle, Peles Castle, Palatul Parlamentului Palace of the Parliament
Three maybes: Sighisoara Citadel, Fortified churches, Painted Monasteries of Bucovina, Three secrets: Scarisoara Ice Cave, Ceahlau National Park, Buzau Mud Volcanoes
SCOTLAND
Three musts: Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Loch Ness, Stirling Castle, Three maybes: Glenfinnan Viaduct, Fairy Pools of Skye, Culzean Castle
Three secrets: Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Rannoch Moor, Smoo Cave
SLOVAKIA
Three musts: High Tatras National Park, Bratislava Castle, Spiš Castle
Three maybes: Slovak Paradise National Park, Bojnice Castle, Demänovská Cave of Liberty
Three secrets: Čičmany, Krásna Hôrka Castle, Bardejov
SLOVENIA
Three musts: Lake Bled island and church, Dragon Bridge and Ljubljana Castle, Postojna Cave
Three maybes: Predjama Castle, Triglav National Park, Skocjan Caves
Three secrets: Rinka Waterfall, Great Soča Gorge, Lake Jasna
SOUTH
AFRICA
Three musts: Table Mountain, Kruger National Park, Robben Island
Three maybes: Blyde River Canyon, Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park, Stellenbosch Winelands
Three secrets: Namaqualand Flower Route, Sani Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, Wild Coast
SPAIN
Three musts: Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Alhambra in Granada, Prado Museum in
Madrid
Three maybes: La Concha Beach in San Sebastián, Alcazar of Segovia, Park Güell in Barcelona
Three secrets: Cuenca, Las Médulas:, Cudillero
SWEDEN
Three musts: Liseberg, Vasa Museum, Kiruna ice hotel
Three maybes: Abisko National Park, Carlsten Fortress, Uppsala Cathedral
Three secrets: Sami Winter Market in Jokkmokk, Tyresta National Park,
SWITZERLAND
Three musts: Matterhorn in Zermatt, Jungfraujoch in Interlaken, Lake Geneva, Three maybes: Lucerne’s Old Town, Château de Chillon in Montreux, Rhine Falls uin Schaffhausen
Three secrets: Lauterbrunnen Valley, Aletsch Glacier, Val Verzasca in Ticino
THAILAND
Three musts: Bangkok’s Grand Palace:, Sukhothai Historical Park, Phi Phi Island
Three maybes: Ayutthaya Historical Park, Chiang Mai’s Doi Suthep, Floating Markets of Damnoen Saduak
Three secrets: Ko Lipe, Khao Sok National Park, Pai: natural hot springs,
TUNISIA
Three musts: Carthage National Museum, blue and white village of Sidi Bou, Douz gateway to the Sahara, Three maybes: El Djem Amphitheatre, Medina of Tunis, Matmata troglodyte village
Three secrets: Ksour of Tataouine, Ghar El Kebir Gor-
ges, Chebika Oasis,
TURKIYE
Three musts: Istanbul’s three attractions, Agia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Ephesus Library of Celsus, Pamukkale cascading terraces
Three maybes Antalya Olympos ruins, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Cappadocia rock formations.
Three secrets: Şirince, Butterfly Valley, Uzungöl
UAE
Three musts: Burj Khalifa, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Louvre Abu Dhabi
Three maybes: Dubai Marina:, Palm Jumeirah, Al Fahidi Historic District,
Three secrets: Sir Bani Yas Island, Al Madam Desert:, Al Hili Archaeological Park
UNITED STATES
Three musts: Empire States Building, Golden Gate bridge, Mall in Washington DC, Three maybes: Metropolitan Museum NY, Smithsonian Washington DC, Las Vegas strip
Three secrets: Top of the Rock New York, Angle’s Landing in Utah, Painted Canyon in North Dakota
WALES
Three musts: Caernarfon Castle, Snowdonia National Park, Brecon Beacons National Park
Three maybes: Portmeirion, National Museum of Wales, Conwy Castle
Three secrets: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, Pembrokeshire Coast Path, Brechfa Forest
Söll searching – above and below the snow line DESTINATION AUSTRIA
We now have five full time witches”, says Marianne Treichl as she lights the fire under her cauldron atop Ausria’s Skiwelt. She is the longest serving hexxen, senior witch if you like, enticing children and wannabe children alike to her stopover for refreshments.
The witches celebrate the legends of the witch water, Hexenwasser, beloved in Söll, one of Ireland’s favourite Austrian villages. When we stopped by to ski the magic was working, the sky was blue and the slopes were filled with the white stuff.
“Would you like some witch’s piss?” she asks, lifting a dodgy looking bottle.
At the middle station, another witch Fidelia is serving popcorn. Just below the Hexenwasser gondola station, witch finders will find a winter playground, a natural ice rink, a small conveyor belt for first experiences with skis and a relaxation area with sun loungers. In the heated gingerbread house right next to the ice rink, little ones can borrow equipment for sliding.All very magical.
If you speak German you can listen to a fairy tale as the gondola rides to the middle station. There are 76 gondolas. and every gondola has its own fairy tale. There is a new a completely new bottom station themed on the witch folklore with its own distinctive wooden architecture.
It is part of a new focus on families designed to keep the Austrian resort at the heart of the ski business. Söll is a key access point to the SkiWelt, one of Austria’s largest interconnected ski areas, with be-
tween 270 and 290 kilometers of slopes.
The investment is ongoing. Recent upgrades include the Eibergbahnen eight seater lift, the Salvista T-bar surface lift, and previously the Hartkaiserbahn, 10-seater lift, the Jochbahn eight-seater, and the Scherntannbahn six-seater with child safety features.
Söll below the snowline is a beautiful village to visit, even without a mountain backdrop one of the prettiest in Tyrol, with a rustic center with a stunning old church, some charming hotels, as well as lively bars and restaurants.
“The reason why Söll is so popular with Irish people,” says Aileen Eglington who has represented Austria in Ireland for twenty years., “is because they have wonderful hotels which are all owner-owned and managed. The town itself has a beautiful church, some nice shops, and lots of shops for ski gear, as well as supermarkets where you can pick up bits and pieces for going home. It’s just a nice, small Austrian Tyrolean village.”
“Irish people feel at home when they come here—they see a family business, a family resort, a place with character that is special to people. It’s not just somewhere anonymous, and that’s really important. The place has got character, and that’s why people come back.”
“The town itself is quite central. There’s a small pedestrian area, and there are a couple of main bars. One of them is the s’Austria, and the other one is the Whisky Müller, which also has a great restaurant. Near the
We travelled to Soll in Austria’s SkiWelt with Aer Lingus Munich...Aer Lingus have twice daily flights from Dublin to Munich and weekly from Cork....short transfer time to Soll and other Austrian resorts..Use Four Seasons..train, car hire and private transfers..
gondola area, there’s a lovely bar called the Moonlight Bar. There are lots of small bars and restaurants around the town.
“Bring cash, because Austria is still a cash economy. The Irish economy has moved towards cashless after pandemic, but the Austrian economy didn’t. So anybody coming here should bring cash.
“Söll is very accessible from Munich Airport, Innsbruck Airport, and Salzburg Airport, but especially Munich because it’s only about an hour and a half away. That’s great for Irish people because we can just go on short ski breaks as well as longer stays.
“Overall, 100,000 people went to Austria last year in 2024. While not everybody went skiing, a significant proportion went skiing or walking in the mountains. We have many walking groups as well, which is important for a reasonably priced holiday abroad.
“In some countries, the costs are higher. On average, a large beer is about five euros. As of January 2025, diesel is 20 cents cheaper per liter than it is in Ireland.”
“There’s loads of Irish people who work here. One of the most famous is Lenny Carroll, who has an apartment building here.”
The first thing you notice on arrival at the Greil hotel in Soll is the bottles. Many hotels have nick nacks such as outsize bottles and famous magnum bottles in their lobbies. There is a hint of things to come in Josef Greil’s lobby (if such is the term, for this is a small family run hotel, like many in Austria, with a functional front hall).
Josef only accepts half board guests who pay €150 to €200 a night for his gourmet product. People form the valley flock to taste his food, and his selection of wines, but Josef is delivering a message so astonishing and life changing that anyone who wanders in will wonder why they did not hear it before.
A revelation from Sepp (because we have gotten to know him better now), wine does not taste the same from two glasses. “Taste,” he says with the sount fo a cork-pop, “this
is Chardonnay in a Burgundy glass. It is flat.” We taste and agree. “Now the pinot noir,” he says. The opposite happens. The thin pipe glasses used for champagne fills the nose and the senses with lots of bubbles and little taste. Out of a wide glass, you can really taste the champagne.
Josef’s tasting room is dedicated to the crafted glassware of Riedl, the famous Austrian firm. Riedl has a glass for every type of wine and Josef is happy to help the guests explore the options. There are seven glasses on front of each table setting as we arrived. They are all sued, and a few extra have to be added.
He finished by showing us a Coca Cola glass that brings out the flavours to the full. Coca Cola came and were impressed with the glass, but not the cost. Proof if it were needed that Söll is the real thing, indeed.
TRENDS 2025: USA & CANADA
Dublin will be one of the most connected cities across the north Atlantic in 2025, with 39 routes in all and 37 routes in our busiest trans-Atlantic summer.
As in previous years, most of the traffic will be concentrated on New York and Newark but there are three important new additions to the menu, Detroit, Indianapolis and Nashville. More seats means better prices for the Irish holiday maker. While it is well flagged how important the Ameri-can and Canadian markets are to Ireland, our second biggest inbound market by tourism numbers and our third biggest by spend, it is sometimes forgotten how many Irish go in the opposite direc-tion: Ireland is the 15th most important inbound market to the USA.
The strength of the dollar is helping those seats in one direction. For an Irish holiday maker, they are finding things a lot more expensive and numbers are still short of the pre-pandemic levels. There are still bargains to be had – because of America’s convoluted pricing structure and the hidden charges associated with many hotels (it can cost ¢20 extra just to use the towels), pricing through a tour operator or a travel agent can often deliver big on savings.
You can also look at the emerging destinations where we have direct flights and breakfast does not cost $80.
Hartford, Connecticut is the bargain destination that offers the most. Fans of Mark Twain will find something to explore in the city, but the key to Hartford is location, location, location. After a stop over you can skedaddle off to the playgrounds that the Irish love, Boston two hours in one direc-tion, and New York two hours and a quarter in the other.
Philadelphia is a very European city with the main attractions eminently walkable, great bars, mu-seums such as The Franklin Institute opened the “Wondrous Space” exhibit, a two-story gallery dedicated to space exploration.
A classic itinerary would usually include a stop of the Independence Hall a UNESCO world herit-age site and Lib-
Heading west this summer
erty about a worldwide symbol of freedom and just yourself as these locations a legendary for a reason in a city that stood in the founding of the USA 200 years ago.
Detroit, Michigan, is known as the birthplace of Motown music. Visitors can explore the Motown Museum and enjoy live music scenes. The city offers a mix of historic and modern architecture, including the iconic Detroit skyline, the Guardian Building, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Recent revitalisation efforts have revived the city, with new restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues, particularly in the downtown area.
Indianapolis is best known as a major sports city, home to the Indianapolis 500, one of the biggest auto races in the world, and the Indianapolis Colts (NFL). Museums on offer include the Indianap-olis Museum of Art and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, which is the largest children’s museum in the world. The picturesque Canal Walk offers opportunities for boating, walking, and cycling.
Minneapolis is rich in arts and culture, with theaters, art galleries, and institutions like the Walker Art Center and the Guthrie Theatre. Famous parks and lakes include the Chain of Lakes and Min-nehaha Falls. A diverse culinary scene is based on local ingredients and Scandinavian heritage.
Charlotte, North Carolina is best known as one of the largest banking centers in the U.S., Charlotte offers a dynamic business environment along with attractions like the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, and cultural festivals, museums like the Mint Museum.
The announcement of a four weekly flight to Nashville, to commence April 12, is a sign that Aer Lingus trans-Atlantic strategy is beginning to get back into tune. It is helped by the arrival of new, more fuel efficient and longer reaching aircraft (see page 17).
Most famous for its vibrant music scene, particularly country music, with venues like the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville also fers a rich food culture with famous dishes such as hot chicken, barbecue, and a variety of South-
ern culinary delights. Cultural attrac-tions, include historic sites, breweries, and art galleries, reflecting Nashville’s unique heritage.
Nashville is under-served on the Atlantic with just two services, the BA flight from Heathrow that started in 2018 and a new Reykjavik service to commence a month after Aer Lingus next year.
Aer Lingus has been very successful at transforming Dublin into a hub, the DubHub of Europe, and passengers agree that transferring through Dublin is eminently preferable to transferring through Heathrow or an American hub.
Aer Lingus also hit the jackpot with a new winter service to Las Vegas which commenced last au-tumn, Bookings inbound to Europe are as strong, if not stronger, than bookings outbound. Aer Lingus Vegas bound flights are running 30pc cheaper than their equivalents from Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester or Zurich. A surprise bonus win.
Aer Lingus 18 – Boston, Chicago–O’Hare, Cleveland, Hartford, Indianapolis (begins 3 May), Las Vegas (winter), Los Angeles, Miami (winter), Minneapolis/St. Paul (summer), Nashville (begins 12 April), Newark, New York–JFK, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Toronto–Pearson, Washington–Dulles.
Air Canada 3 – Toronto–Pearson, Montréal–Trudeau (summer), Vancouver (summer), Air Transat 1 – Toronto–Pearson (summer)
American Airlines 4 – Philadelphia, Charlotte (summer), Chicago–O’Hare (summer), Dallas/Fort Worth (summer),
Delta Air Lines 4 – Atlanta, New York–JFK, Boston (summer), Detroit (summer, begins 8 May), Minneapolis/St. Paul (summer).
JetBlue 2 – Boston, New York–JFK (both summer)
United Airlines 3 – Newark, Washington–Dulles, Chicago–O’Hare (summer)
WestJet 4 – Calgary, Halifax, St. John’s, Toronto–Pearson (all summer),
Lazs Vegas proved a highly successful winter launch destination for Aer LIngus
Mackey Hargett is not as famous as his cousin. He is from Tupelo, Mississippi, and talks about the small town with small town affection, as if his cousin, born here, had not changed everything.
It was a town of neighbourhoods, of church-going people who struggled to make a living, of whites and blacks in a segregated society who sometimes managed to bond (including Mackety’s cousin, the story goes).
Walking through Tupelo today you can get a sense of that small town ambience. Except you cannot anymore.
Because Elvis Presley made Tupelo what it is today, a town on the tourist trail of those pilgrims who come to play homage to what may be the most famous name in musical history.
We caught up with Mackey in the original Assembly of God Church, where young Elvis came and heard music for the first time in that deliciously semi-improvised Baptist environment. God will provide, he was told.
Long before IKEA, Elvis’s family home came out of a kit box. The lumber company sold house building kits for two and four room houses and that is where Elvis came into the world.
According to Mackey, it was his relationship with his mother that shaped his life. He was three years old when his father was sent to prison for cheque forgery.
“Elvis and his mother were left for nine months. Little three-year-old Elvis would be running around when his mother and the other ladies you know would be talking. He would get to her and he’s like a little cartoon character putting on the brakes. He would reach over and pat her on the knee and say it’s okay, I’m going to take care of you.”
“By George he did until the day she died.”
Tupelo now has an Elvis festival, and we came along to the Cadence Bank Arena to hear the various Elvis impersonators com-
pete for the crown of King of his home town. They came from near and far, Australia, Japan, Norway, singing his vast and familiar repertoire.
Only fools rush in DESTINATION USA
The fans came from a little nearer and further, jumping to standing ovation aafter standing ovation with the sort of unbridled enthusiasm that those of us who were toon young never got to see at his real gigs.
Small children with Elvis haircuts queued for souvenirs in the lobby.
It helps that he was complicated, because so is his home town. There was much else to savour there today, the wood-fired steaks at Harvey’s, the seafood and craft cocktails at Jobos, chef Tom Lester’s innovative Southern and American dishes at Park Heights Restaurant, and classic ham-burger at Johnnie’s Drive-In, with its Elvis booth where he once sat.
But it was time to move to Memphis, where his music career was pushstarted on to the roller coaster it became.
The track is well worn to the famous places and names, the legendary Sun Studio, where
music history was made and then unmade by angry competitors, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the sounds that defined a generation. with its 2,000 interactive exhibits, films, and artifacts.
And on to Graceland which, predictably, feels like Disneyland. With vast car parking and a bus to bring you to the mansion with controlled entry times, it looks like it as well.
That might be tacky, but the scale of the attraction prevents this happening. The audio tour of the mansion is well done, you feel you have a genuine gilmpse into his lifestyle. You can spend hours going through the cluster of buildings opposite the mansion, eight museum or displays, double that number of souvenir shops and restaurants You can visit his private Boeing 737. A VIP pass allows you to go back on the same day for a second luck. Many did.
Memphis city has that hollowed out feeling of many American urban areas, an abandoned centre and lively suburbs populated by people who no longer go downtown. In the nostalgic setting at the Arcade, Mem-
phis’s oldest restaurant, there are photographs on the wall of what the city used to look like, with crowded streets and department stores. Sadly, no more.
The centre is being regenerated, and the newly renovated space at Tom Lee Park celebrates the riverbank. A lively evening was had at the music quarter with B.B. King’s Blues Club and Rum Boogie Cafe, and Silky O’Sullivan’s, known for its outdoor goats.
At Overton Park Shell we visited the site of Elvis Presley’s first paid concert in 1954, and took the chance to walk across Big River Crossing to Arkansas across the mighty Mississippi, the river that defines the culture of so many people.
We breakfasted at By the Brewery and sampled the local fare, casual dining at The Public Bistro in the vibrant neighborhood of Cooper-Young, ribs and pulled pork at Central BBQ, Priscilla Pres-ley’s former beauty parlour, now the Beauty Shop restaurant, the Tuscan and Sicilian culinary tradi-tions of Catherine and Mary’s and the warm ambiance and exquisite dishes of JEM Dining.
A little further downtown
is a balcony as famous as any Graceland. It was at the Lorraine Motel that Martin Luther King was assassinated. It is now the National Civil Rights Museum, a reminder of a more uncomfortable past of the American south. King’s last speech, seeing the promised land, was unscripted, improvised at short notice for a nearby gathering. The bullet that changed history was fired from a series of non descript buildings on the other side of the street, where mystery and suspicions of conspiracy still linger.
On the last day of the Elvis festival in Tupelo we attended an amazing gospel service. It offered, as church services do, some important insights. We learned that drinking is not a sin, but getting drunk is.
We also got an insight into Elvis’s business model. Rock’n’roll taste is notoriously ephemeral and unpredictable. Gospel is the opposite. It proved is his cash cow, he sold more gospel records than any of the other genres he straddled, blues, country, rock. Gospel kept him in limousines. God will provide. Indeed he did.
Elvis fesgtival in Tupelo. Inset Eoghan Corry and Mackey Hargett cousin of Elvis Presley
DESTINATION AUSTRIA
It is in the name: breaking Bad. We are on our way to a disused mine in Austria and we are not alone. Aches and pains from all over Europe have all been packed away in the luggage and carried to the bowels of the Alps.
Gasteiner Heilstollen translates as healing tunnel, and while we don’t share the dilemma of most of fellow passengers on the small mine train, we suspect we could do with a little healing and sort out the bits that were not working.
The mine train looks like it is from a Grimm’s fairy tale storybook, so much in character that at least four of the seven dwarfs would be able to sit in one of the tiny carriages without causing a stir. Doc would be helping people on to the train. Sneezy would certainly fit in. Heigh ho.
Long before anyone had heard of radon therapy, the locals noticed that the men who worked the silver mines of Gastein had stronger bones, better health and longer lives.
Anxious to pack our own aches and investigate, we that descended into the tunnel with a rumble, deep below the Böckstein mountain.
Everyone on the train had a story to tell. Germany’s health executive funds its citizens to come here. Some had suffered from conditions such as arthritis for years.
Like most people we spend an hour in the mountain, hot, humid, and, it has to be said, more than a little uncomfortable. The only thing that broke the silence was the rumble of the returning train. Whatever about the treatment, the sense is of having returned from an otherworld experience. By now it is more daylight ahoy than heigh ho.
Bad Gastein where good things happen
Of course, you don’t have to go underground.
The Gastein valley is awash with healing water and has accumulated all the luxurious paraphernalia of modern pampering. The imperial architecture clinging to the hillside of Bad Gastein town tells you this has long been a place of consequence.
An emperor came to investigate the healing waters in 1807 and, since then, Bad Gastein carries all the bow-tie grandeur that its status can bestow. It has a tuxedo casino (bring your passport or you won’t get in), a signature midtown waterfall whose sound thunders down the main street, and a famously lively bar, the Silver Bullet, well known to Irish repeat Gasteiners. Bad Hofgastein
(Alpentherme Gastein) and Bad Gastein (the Felsemtherme) have large communal spas with fitness centres, massage treatment rooms and multiple pools, including unisex saunas where nudity is mandatory.
The valley sits neatly in the brochures neatly because it has lots of accommodation for both winter and summer visitors. When you count the three towns together there are 7,000 beds in Bad Hofgastein, 5,000 in Bad Gastein and 2,500 in Dorfgastein.
Above it all, the fabled mountain, the Gamskarkogel stands guard with a white cap.
“Close your eyes, and listen to the scenery,” said Daria Denisova, our guide.
Our base was the Hotel Alpina in Bad Hofgastein. A ten-minute walk from the Hotel Alpine took us to the rejuvenating Alpentherme, where you can purchase a fourhour ticket and indulge in some well-deserved relaxation. Ar a dinner back at the hotel, savoring the flavors of the region, kaiserschmarm and schnitzel.
We caught ski bus 568 from Griesbrücke to Terminal Schlossalmbahn for some skiing at Schlossalm. The resorts of Bad Gastein and Bad Hofgastein offer access to 200kms of ski slopes split over four separate areas. In mountains where a small change of wind can bring a big change in conditions, that matters.
At the nearby hotel
1446.
You can stay in the tower suite and unpack the suit of armour.
Each of the three towns of the Gastein valley has a unique visitor experience. “Our challenge,” explains Jürgen Bess, Marketing Director of Gasteinertal Tourismus GmbH, “was distilling the valley’s diverse offerings into a single, emotionally impactful message. This required weaving together the various aspects of a ski holiday, the charm of local village life, urban vibrancy, and the allure of healing spa treatments and wellness experiences. “
“Our slogan: Welcome to the Off, represents the idea of escaping everyday life and enjoying a personal getaway filled with revitalising mo -
ments in Gastein,”
“Our aim was to create messages that resonate emotionally with potential guests and capture the distinctiveness of a holiday in the Gastein Valley.
“Gastein is distinguished by its topography, encased by mountains on all sides. These majestic peaks provide a breathtaking backdrop. They also but also create an ideal environment for mountain and ski sports enthusiasts. In addition to the area’s famed thermal waters and healing properties, Gastein serves as an unparalleled restorative retreat, offering opportunities for unforgettable experiences, a wholesome blend of thrilling skiing and luxurious wellness, leaving you with treasured memories and a yearning to return (heigh ho).
It is in the name. Bad is good for you.
Norica the tower dates to
Sea travel differently
While our award winning fleet maintains the highest maritime and customer standards, it’s our warm hospitality and friendly service that makes the Irish Ferries experience so unique.
Along with Club Class, cabins, restaurants, and extensive duty-free shopping, we offer the best value fares for groups, drivers and car passengers alike.
And now with a full schedule operating on Dover - Calais, we’re embarking on another exciting chapter, connecting Ireland, Britain and France.
TRENDS 2025: RYANAIR
In what may be the biggest change to travel this year, Ryanair plans to eliminate airport check in and printed boarding passes altogether by the summer of 2025.
The airline’s expansion plans have been curtailed by the passenger cap at Dublin airport although it is launching a new route to Funchal form Shannon on March 30.
The app has also been rapidly upgraded to provide day of travel services that include videos, flight status and check-in, seats, gate info and payments all in one place. Order to seat is being availed of by over 100,000 passengers per day.
Ryanair reported 197m passengers in 2024 and is Europe’s largest airline by a margin of 70m. It operates from 95 bases and 250 airports in 40 countries, has a fleet of 630 aircraft and another 330 on order and plans to grow to 300M passengers in the next ten years. It bases 40 aircraft at four airports in Ireland and serves another three.
It says 98pc of passengers now self serve via the web and the app and it has self service desks at 45 airports.
Supply line problems at Boeing have slowed growth but it Ryanair anticipates delivery of 29 new Boeing 737 aircraft worth $3bn in 2025.
Michael O’Leary CEO of Ryanair told Travel Extra: What we try to do is send
everyone who flies with us an email if they haven’t checked in two days before departure. The day before departure, we send a text SMS, and on the day of departure, we send another text SMS.
I don’t want to have ticket desks at the airport. If we can move everyone onto the app where they can self-serve, we can get rid of ticket desks at the airport and the staff who man them. There’s no reason to be charging people or fining them £60 or whatever it is for airport check-in. We really want to get rid of airport check-in, just like we got rid of check-in bags.
End of the paper trail
The more we can move everyone onto the app, the better. I’ve been a reluctant convert to the app—I’m terrified to go on a flight without having a piece of paper. But actually, it works so well; you are told where your gate is going to be, what time boarding starts, and if there’s a delay, the information is immediately on your app. It’s a great service.
We are now working towards giving about six months’ notice before launching that, probably around the 1st of May next year, everything will be done on the app, and nothing will be done on paper anymore.
But there is a demographic and there are customers who can’t handle that. It will vary from country to country. I’m in that demographic who can’t handle not having a piece of paper. It’s the same demographic who would never use the internet when we first moved everyone online for cheaper fares. They were the first ones to switch to the internet for cheaper fares, and they will move to the app too.
Currently, about 60pc of our passengers use the app, and we expect that by the end of the year, it will be close to 80pc. We think that with about a six-
month period, probably around April or May of next year, everyone will be using the app. If you don’t have the app, you won’t be able to book; everything will be done on the app. To make a booking, you need to sign up for the app anyway. We will have backups if your battery dies. Just give us your name and passport; we can check you in at the boarding gates. If your phone doesn’t scan for some reason, once we have your passport and name, we can check you in—that’s fine. But ultimately, everyone will be using the app.
Tracey Kennedy Director of Customer Service, Michael O’Leary CEo and Carol Sharkey Chief Risk Officer at Ryanair
TRENDS 2025: AER LINGUS
Aer Lingus took delivery of the Saint Mella and the Saint Liadhain, its first A321XLR aircraft, just be-fore Christmas.
EI-XLR was flown to Dublin on 18 December. She is named for Saint Liadháin of Killlyon near Birr in County Offaly.
Two days later, on December 22, EI-XLT (msn 11590), named St Mella, took over the route. She is named for Saint Melanie / Mella of DoireMelle in County Leitrim.
The Aer Lingus A321XLR is configured with 184 seats in a two-class layout with 16 full-flat Business Class and 168 Economy Class seats.
The aircraft has up to 20pc lower fuel burn per seat than similar previous generation aircraft and is capable of operating with up to 50pc Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
In the Business Class cabin, there are Thompson Vantage seats that lie fully flat. Each seat has its own lighting, massage function and lumbar support, as well as in-seat power and space for person-al belongings. The aircraft uses in-flight entertainment systems in both Business Class and Econo-my. In the Business Class cabin, there are 18-inch screens with 4k and Bluetooth connectivity.
In the Economy cabin, the Recaro seats have a 30-31 inch pitch and leather headrests. In the Business Class cabin, there is a USB-C power connection and space for personal belongings. The in-flight entertainment systems are user-friendly. The latest 3D satellite imagery and interactive maps will allow customers to keep track of their
AERCLUB Aer
Lingus now has 3 million members in its AerClub loyalty programme. Last year, it launched its first Avios-Only Flight
which allowed members to use Avios (the reward currency of AerClub) as a form of payment. Members were able to get seats to Tenerife for just 10,000 Avios ( a 50% discount) plus taxes, fees and carrier charges. Due to overwhelming popularity, this flight sold out in 2.5 hours and AerClub hopes to offer another Avios-Only flight in 2025.
LOUNGES A
full refurbishment of the Aer Lingus lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2 was completed in 2024, with a new food provider offering more hot food options for customers. In 2024, Aer Lingus also moved to improved third-party lounges across the network (San Francisco, Boston and Chica-go.)
The Chicago (ORD) move was part of terminal move in January to Terminal 3 at Chicago O’Hare, with Terminal 3 offering more seamless connections for customers flying onwards to other destina-tions with American Airlines.
TSA Aer Lingus is now a participating carrier in the known traveller program, TSA PreCheck. This allows enrolled TSA PreCheck member customers to enjoy the benefits of the speediest security
screen-ing experience when departing from US airports with Aer Lingus. Around 99% are through security in less than 10 minutes.
DISNEY+
New partnership (since summer 2024) with Disney+ to bring customers the most popular movies and TV shows. This means customers can watch Disney favourites like Disenchanted and Lady and the Tramp (Live Action), Monsters at Work, Zootopia+. The TV content includes Loki (Season 1), The Mandalorian (Season 1), and Ms. Marvel.
CREW Aer Lingus cabin crew have been equipped with new technology to digitalise how they do their day-to-day job – allowing them to complete various inflight report forms, reporting issues, consulting manuals and service guides, or easy access to their inflight PA announcements. On flights equipped with inflight Wi-Fi, this enables crew to also get real-time information from their colleagues in the Operations Control Centre to be able to advise customers on any relevant infor-mation on flight connections, etc.
JFK Aer Lingus will move from its interim home at Terminal 7 at New York JFK to the newly constructed Terminal 6. There it will
open a brand new Aer Lingus flagship lounge. This terminal move will also allow for easier connections for customers transferring to/from flights with our partners at JetBlue. Move expected: November 2025.
BUSINESS
Class improvements: Continued improvements in our long-haul Business Class inflight experience with a brand new amenity kit being launched in Spring, which is focused around wellbeing and sustainability. There is also continued improvements in our inflight menus and customer choice. This will include the new ‘Goodnight service’ on later departing, shorter transatlantic
overnight flights to allow customers to optimise their rest time on board.
GROUP boaridng.
Aer Lingus has introduced group boarding on short haul flights and introduced clearer signage at the boarding gate to better manage queues. This has resulted in a more organised boarding pro-cess, and early indications of improved customer satisfaction, particularly for those who are eligi-ble for priority boarding. In the coming months, each customer’s boarding group allocation will be on their boarding card to make this process even smoother
XLR New routes to Nashville and Indianapolis in April and May
respectively on new Airbus A321 XLR air-craft.
APP Aer Lingus has made new improvements to its mobile app, including the launch of flight status in-formation on iOS. This means that day-of-travel information like boarding gate location and real time updates are now readily available at customers’ fingertips. Next month, a new wayfinding fea-ture will be introduced that will allow customers departing from Dublin use the app to guide them directly to their gate. Recent changes to the Aer Lingus mobile app have been popular with customer and the app rating is now at 4.9.
2025 CAPACITY INCREASES
Dublin to Malta (originally a winter sun destination) extended to year round
Dublin to Seville extended until mid-May (will re-start mid-September)
Dublin to Marrakesh extended until mid-May (will re-start mid-September)
Increased frequency: Dublin to Athens extra flight Monday (May to Sep)
Dublin to Lanzarote (ACE) extra 2 flights per week (on Tuesday and Thursday)
Dublin to Tenerife (TFS) extra 2 flights per week (on Wednesday and Friday)
Dublin to Prague (PRG) extra 1 flight (on Saturday)
Dublin to Zurich (ZRH) extra 1 flight (on Sunday)
Dublin to Vienna (VIE) extra 1 flight (Tuesday)
Dublin to Lyon (LYS) extra 1 flight (Tuesday) (May to Sep)
Dublin to Pisa (PSA) extra 1 flight (May to Sep)
Dublin to Budapest (BUD) extra 1 flight(May to Sep)
Dublin to Geneva (GVA) extra 1 flight (May to Sep)
Dublin to Nice (NCE) extra 3 flights per week on Tues, Thursday & Saturday
Dublin to Verona (VRN) extra flight per week on Friday (May to September)
n Extended capacity to sun routes from Cork:
Cork to Lanzarote (ACE) extra 1 flight to 4 per week (Extra flight on Sundays)
Cork to Tenerife (TFS) extra 1 flight to 3 per week (Extra flight on Fridays)
Cork Palma de Mallorca (PMI) extra 1 flight to 5 per week (Extra flight on Tuesdays)
n New summer routes from Cork:
Bordeaux - 3 per week from May to September
Bilbao (BIO) – 3 per week from April to October
Aer Lingus A321XLR enabled new routes be established to Nashville and Indianapolis
For a country one third the size of Dublin county, Malta has a glittering past. The bus stop on the Mediterranean, as tur guides like to put it, has been home to the peoples who made European history, from Caravaggio to Roddy Collins.
Everything down to the fishing boats resonates with the past, their prows painted with eyes, just like the boats of their Phoenician predecessors.
The buildings of the capital, Valletta, built by the Knights of St. John, is a harmonious grid of faded splendour, glinting yellow in the sunlight. Mdina and Rabat are fortress-like hilltop towns, and watchtowers dot the coast. From Mdina you can see the soccer stadium where Ireland qualified for Italia ’90. When the Maltese went to cry into their beer, the tour guide told us, there was none left.
The seascape contrasts rocky stretches of coast with vertigous limestone cliffs and sheltered bays that hide azure water and red-gold beaches. The medley of marinas around the islands bob with boats. Snorkelers and divers have an underwater world to explore, of caves, crags, and wrecks. Many say Malta has the best diving in Europe.
Beautiful Malta Jewel of the Med DESTINATION MALTA
with its blue water and hermit’s hideaway, The aptly named Blue Lagoon is so blue that it looks like something from Photoshop. Go in the afternoon, after most people have left.
TFhe islanders
“learned breakfast from the British at dinner from the French and lunch from the Italians,” says Rosanne Sciberras of the tourist board.
Maltese food mixes Sicilian and Middle Eastern flavors while making
use of local ingredients such as rabbit and honey.
Every street corner seems to have a church, sitting amid the renovated townhouses or towering over quiet villages. There are 359, and the wedding business form Ireland is booming Malta and Gozo’s astounding prehistoric sites were constructed by sophisticated temple builders. Their miniature figurines and mammoth sculptures of ‘fat ladies,’ cam be found in Malta’s fascinating museums.
Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, a 5000-year-old necropolis
carved from the living rock, lies underground. Ovefrgorund Ġgantija Archaeological Park is equally impressive.
We checked in to the 248-room Corinthia hotel and the mood was set by a beautiful fresh floral display in the centre of their reception area.
First stop if the overlook over the harbour, walked through Barrakka Gardens and down to a dghajsa ride across the bay.
In Valletta, Malta’s kilometre by 600m capital, every street leads to the sea. The walled city contains a harmonious collection of 16th- and 17th-century townhouses fronted by traditional Maltese balconies. It has come alive with restaurants, renovated buildings, and an emerging
nightlife area in Stratt St, the former red-light district.
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Vittoriosa is the most fascinating of Malta’s Three Cities. This ancient town, perched on its small lip of land, has stunning views and perfectly preserved streets.
Its festival is known Birgu (its name before the Great Siege of 1565), Vittoriosa was the original home of the Knights of Malta. We toured by a small buggy, from a company called Rolling Geeks.
For an escape, because Malta is surprisingly urban, go to Comino
or a real escape, try the swimming spots are the natural pools and inlets that are pock marked around the rocky coast. Saint. Peter’s Pool where you leap off the rocks,; the natural pool at pool at Ghar Lapsi and the narrow rocky gorge that meets the sea at Gozo. Then comes nightfall. And the lights dance on the harbour.
DESTINATION GREECE
All change for all inclusive
All inclusive holidays have had a bad reputation. Post-pandemic it seems it is al change for all-inclusive. A transformation that needed to be investigated.
The surprises begin at the very beginning, Julie Andrews-like. At check-in in the airport, where there was someone to help you figure out the bags and passports and that app that never seems to open when you want it. The second touch of joy came at the gate, where there is someone to co-ordinate the stampede. It got better on the aircraft, with a welcome and a drink. And at arrival, where there was a chariot that awaited and a horseman with a sign to guide us.
Sometimes arrival at a distant airport on a package holiday can mean sitting on a bus while the oth-er hotels are all dropped off first, but on arrival, we were shown to our villa with the plunge pool and the sound of the Med washing gently on a nearby shore. Where to swim first? Is that cham-pagne in a bucket with two glasses? Dilemmas.
Our hosts the Greeks, famous for mythology, set about disproving the myth that all-inclusive is about a captive e audience (sometimes kept captive, in case they might want to stray beyond the beach boundary) shoddy product and service.
The product has been upgraded, and a new generation has discovered the joy of being looked after.
We joined this particular adventure in Kos. Appropriately, on an island famous for fables and sa-gas, the Tui Blue Oceanis Beach in Kos comes with one of its own.
A local banker used to come fishing on the soft-sanded beach here. He fell into conversation with someone who told him there was going to be a hotel constructed on that patch, and he vowed, someday, to buy it.
Now his daughter runs it.
Tui Blue Oceanis Beach in Kos owner Kakia Droso and manager Stefanos Kamateros, the manag-er, have seen the fisherman’s dream evolve. It now offers 410 rooms. Ours was a villa with its own entrance, from where you passed the plunge pool to go everywhere. Temptation. “Spreading smiles,” says Apostolos Psarakis, the restaurant manager who moves from table to table like Odysseus. There are three restaurants and five bars, the Italian-themed Meltem and the pride of the place, the Culinarium, proffering local produce and ancient tastes. And the food. In a week pollinated with local honey, with beef and tilapia and other tasties, an out-standing memory is the chocolate lava (melting Valrhona chocolate with pas-
sion fruit sensations).
The beach bar is where we sat and watch the postcard-perfect sunsets, on remind and nature’s equivalent the boomerang. On a cruise across the bay, couples lined up to re-enact the scene with the doomed Irishman and his beloved from the Titanic. Social media has changed the plot of the Odyssey.
Outside the gate, the most astonishing ancient ruins are about twenty minutes away, the school es-tablished by Hippocrates to fight plagues, and
the most astonishing natural feature, Therma Beach, twenty minutes in the other direction. We hired a car and drove to the end of the island, eleven stops on a brisk itinerary, easily navigated.
Plan your day to drive from the south to the north of the island and catch the sunset at Zia on the way back (beware of Siri when she the sun gets too warm, she tried to put us on a donkey path, we have a conflicted relationship: Kos town, Old bridge, Tree of Hippocrates, Agora, Agnes Dei church,
Asklepieion , Salt lake, Marmaris Beach, Antimachia Castle, Plakae Forest, White Rock of Kos, Limnionas Beach, Kefalos, Theologos beach, Stefanos beach, Zia. It works. We returned at the end of the day to a warm greeting. The fabric or the number of stars or even awards do not tell you whether a hotel is homely or not.
It is about the staff, the greeting, the feeling we were coming back home after an adventure.
Eoghan Corry at Antimachia Castle Below left: Plunge pool at the TUI Blu, below right: Ancient Asklepieion
So many stories. Every bend on the flowing immensity that is the river Danube has a tale to tell. It might be the gravelly bank, the hidden river under-architecture with currents that bounce and ripples that change direction, the sporadic zille with by a watchful fisherman precariously perched aboard, the soggy plains or the marks of the highest flood (a date like 1838 helpfully attached), the fallen trees and high walled locks, power plants and towns with fortified churches, towers and spires and baroque beauty scattered like the vines that follow the contours of landscape, the grandiose capital cities and humble villages, abbeys and monasteries and taverns (sometimes all three in one), and those rare occasion when you see one of the rocky crags that does NOT have a castle built atop.
If a picture tells a thousand words, there is no smartphone filter or wide angle pano that can start to do justice to the Danube: so many sounds, smells and so much clarity of vision for anyone who wants to know what makes us in Europe who we are, history by the gallon, gazillions of gallons.
It was once the highway to the capital of Europe, crowned Constantinople and sacred Jeru-salem. The mighty Hapsburgs, the family which dominated Europe like no other, built their power and wealth from here. When the delta and its hinterland fell to Islam, it became a highway to nowhere. Most of the generation that can afford the €2,500 price tag for a river cruise would remember when the lower waters were a no-go area=
That dark and sinister feeling lurks a little still, for them at least,
Danube dalliance RIVER CRUISE
and even for some who were not born until long after Stalin’s iron fist was lifted One of Budapest’s; most visited trac-tions is the Stasi museum. Budapest is the starting point nowadays, a beautiful city with wonderful architecture and that understands that the Danube as its life blood artery. In summer it creates beaches along the river.
You spend a lot of time in the company of tour guides when you cruise. Most are operating in their second or third language, delicately and artistically covering nature and language, art and song, religion and culture. Most tell jokes to calm and relax their audience, those cruise-ohs, average age around 65, many unsteady on their feet, looking for something rec-ognisable from their comfort zone (“look Sue, there’s a Tesco”) And being tourists, some-times prejudiced and primed with pointless
questions. Tour guides know all the answers, like good comedians dealing with a heckler. They also deal with heavy history, but keep the mood light and accessible: “You can go to the toilet but wit will be 50 florins, the lady there will not accept 49, she is the dragon and the toilet is the dragon’s den.”
Outside the cabin window there was fog most mornings. Fog is an October experience on the Danube, which is quite different from the September or the November experience on the same ship on the same river, for the Danube is a moody dame.
The torrents and droughts, determined by mountain snowfall, rarely affect river cruise pas-sengers. Some stops have to be missed during events like the high waters in 2014, the ice jams in 2017, the low waters in October 2018 and last June, followed by Storm Boris in Sep-tember which caused the worst floods to hit Bratislava in 30 years, but cruise com-
Riviera Travel’s largest-ever river cruise programme will operate in 2026. 133 sailings are on offer, on 13 river ships, taking in destinations across Europe. The season features 13 dedi-cated solo departures.
panies are adept at moving their ships around to cope with weather events.
Most of the challenges they face are much less dramatic, such as the queue for berths in Dürnstein, where six ships can dock at once.
Thus was it always, the Danube was D for danger, where western Christians ventured down-river with caution to where Islam, witchcraft or communism camped.
The dash (if chugging upriver at 10kph can be called a dash) along the Danube from Buda-pest to Nuremberg is one of the signature itineraries of the entire travel industry, perhaps the
most iconic journey by river, through fans of the upper middle Rhine-run between Ko-blenz and Rüdesheim may disagree. It has become a wellworn path, or rather a long-ruddered boatride, which generally stops at Bratislava in Slovakia, Vienna, Dürnstein and Melk in Austria, and sometimes on to Pas-sau and Regensburg in Germany, although we did not make it that far on this occasion.
Beautiful as it is, the riverscape is often just a backdrop painted at the back of the stage to the modern cruise experience.
Or, to be more precise, the dining room. Cruise companies, sea and river, long ago discov-ered that well fed customers are happy customers. For our time on board, much of the ac-tion was laden on our table, served up with smiling enthusiasm and worrying regularity by the Riviera staff: giant breakfast buffets with cold platter, lunches with more buffet canapes of pickled fish, soups, pastas and a choice of three main courses followed by cheese plat-ters and cake. Any of the dinners were fit for an emperor, Most of all. We laughed. A lot.
Sunset on the Danube on board Emily Bronte
Durnstein Castle
25 TRENDS FOR 2025 25
trends for 2025
ACTIVE
Retirement: The rapidly growing demographic of retired travellers are booking ad-venturous trips, capitalizing on their newfound time and resources to explore bucket-list destinations with enthusiasm.
ALL INCLUSIVE
Resorts:
Travellers prefer the security and convenience of booking through traditional travel agents or all-inclusive resorts for hassle-free vacations. Gen Z’s interest in all-inclusive stays is surging, with major hotel chains joining in.
BLEISURE & NO-
MADS What used to be described as mixing business travel with leisure activities has taken a new post-pandemic turn, allowing travellers to extend their stays and explore destinations after meetings, often including family members who join for the leisure aspect. Nomad travellers combine work and travel, living in different locations around the world.
CLOSE TO HOME
:
Exploring nearby destinations with the convenience of driving, reducing trav-
el-related stress.
COLLECTIVE
Adventures:
Traveling in groups, particularly adventure trips. Skip-Gen Travel is where grandparents travel with grandchildren without the parents.
CRUISES
: Cruising is back and more popular than ever. The Caribbean has seen the largest growth by capacity, with more ships being repositioned there including the biggest 2024 launch Icon of the Seas (from Royal Caribbean) and the big 2025 launch MSC World America. The luxury cruise segment is experiencing the fastest growth, with smaller, more exclusive ships from brands like Viking and Explora capturing attention. This trend reflects a demand for personalized, high-end experiences that cater to affluent travellers. Growing too are expedition cruises designed for adventure and exploration. Another trend is cruising on ships that are completely redesigned rather than the predictable traditional casino-on-the-third-deck ships.
DETOUR
Destinations
(Dupes): Exploring less-travelled, offthe-beaten-path locations for unique experiences. Visiting lesser-known destinations similar to popular ones to avoid crowds, such as Tarragona instead of Barcelona, Treviso instead of Venice (and doing a day trip). Silent Travel is where travellers seek silence and tranquillity in travel experiences, traveling during off-peak seasons to avoid crowds. Regenerative Travel aims to give back to the communities and environments visited. Destination Relationship aims to form mean-ingful connections with the places visited. Frontier Tourism means exploring untouched or lesser-known lands and cultures. Travellers are seeking unique, off-the-beaten-path destina-tions to avoid clichés. Even when following the crowds, a trend in Back-of-House tours in-volves exploring the behind-thescenes aspects of a destination, including its culture, histo-ry, and cuisine. Coolcationing, going to cooler destinations during the summer months, was a predicted trend of 2004 that did not quite work out.
EVENTS TOURISM :
Enthusiastic sports fans are traveling to attend events or participate in ac-tivities, from global sporting fixtures to cycling trips and boot camps, creating an adven-turous blend of travel and athleticism. Gig chasing involves traveling specifically to attend concerts and music festivals, calculating flight and hotel prices to follow concert tours such as Oasis. Travelers are becoming more cultural, choosing destinations based on events from music festivals to fashion exhibitions, making pop culture a travel planner.
FOMO to JOMO: Embracing the joy of missing out (instead of the fear of missing out) with stress-free, secluded holiday rentals, a trend that focuses on personal growth through travel, as people seek experiences like yoga teacher training or cultural immersion with in-digenous communities, leading to profound lifestyle changes. Mental Detoxification means seeking holiday experiences that benefit mental health. Good news for ferries: travellers are taking slower journeys to savour the travel experience.
25 TRENDS FOR 2025
GOODS GETAWAYS
: Inspired by TikTok, holidaymakers hunt for unique local treasures and souvenirs, things they can’t get at home and can’t go home without, and checking out local supermarkets and grocery shops rather than exiting through the gift shop.
GOURMET TRAVEL:
Food-focused travel gains popularity as travellers seek new culinary expe-riences, with a growing interest in food-centric destinations that offer everything from Michelin-starred dining to local food trucks, enriching the journey. Wild Feasting is also in, foraging for food in the wild then cooking and eating organic meals. Heritage flavours mean delving into the traditional cuisines and food culture of a destination.
HOTELS ARE BACK
Hilton’s 2025 annual trends report makes one thing clear: luxury travellers are on the rise, especially those under 60 years old. Hotels featuring social-centric commu-nal areas remain popular, along with festival tourism. Hotel Restaurants are also having a moment; after having had a bad reputation for years, people are booking hotel stays that boast acclaimed restaurants, chefs, and bars. Another trend is Trailblazer Hotels: eye-catching, charismatic hotels become destinations in their own right, appealing to both tour-ists and business travellers.
NATURAL PHENOM-
ENA : The 2024 eclipse was a breakthrough moment for experiential tourism. More tourists are expected to
plan trips around events like eclipses and Northern Lights sightings. Nocturnal Tourism is not unrelated; visiting places to view the night sky when the sky is clearest, seeking destinations optimal for stargazing and witnessing celestial events.
NOSTALGIA & Rosy Retrospection: People yearn for simpler, happier times amid change fa-tigue and distressing news. Places that offer a simpler lifestyle and things like they used to be are in fashion.
ONE CLICK TRIPS:
Booking travel is unduly complicated. A trend is for following trusted travel influencers and making easy bookings inspired by their posts. Tastes are changing; travellers are seeking airports offering greater safety, efficiency, and amenities and want to be flexible about booking times for the best deals.
OUTDOORS
This used to be for sweaty backpackers and families with leaky tents. Today’s outdoor programmes and apps emphasize luxury in nature; travellers enjoy comfortable ac-commodations such as glamping and stargazing experiences, ensuring outdoor adventures come with cozy amenities.
PERSONALISATION:
Tailoring travel experiences according to individual preferences. Airlines are utilising AI, Wi-Fi, 5G, and VR to make air travel more engaging, while the counter-intuitive “jawdogging” (ignoring aviation screens and food) is emerging.
SCREENS
DOWN: En-
couraging families to engage with their surroundings, this trend pro-motes active participation in outdoor activities and cultural exploration, fostering lasting memories beyond screen time. Real Life Connections (IRL) is where travellers prefer mak-ing real-life connections over online dating, seeking spontaneous, meaningful interactions. There are suggestions that travellers are showing a preference for human recommendations over AI-generated suggestions for their trips and are getting better at spotting the bots.
SET JETTING
: Choosing travel destinations influenced by movies, TV shows, and streaming series. Move over “Emily in Paris,” season three of “The White Lotus” set in Thailand is boosting its popularity as a tourist destination in 2025.
SPLACK PACKING :
Taking multi-day hikes with less luggage, as your supplies are transported for you.
SLEEP TOURISM
Prioritising quality sleep, travellers are choosing accommodations that provide restful environments with features like pillow menus and enhanced air quality, catering to the need for rejuvenating rest during trips.
SOLO TRAVEL
: Solo travel continues to rise, making up a significant portion of bookings, with more agents curating experiences for solo adventurers, especially women. Loneliness travel covers programmes and apps that combat loneliness by fostering connections based on shared interests. Me Moons is where solo
travellers explore romantic destinations like Paris and the Maldives, with tailored packages for solo adventurers.
SPONTANEOUS Travel:
Embracing spontaneity and flexibility in travel. The day trip is making a comeback, and early morning and late return flights to cities like Frankfurt, Lisbon and Madrid mean that you can do a citybreak without having to pay for an often over priced ho-tel.
SUSTAINABLE
tourism and Eco-Travel: Prioritising eco-friendly and sustainable travel. Trav-ellers are increasingly seeking eco-friendly holidays, from train journeys to biking and vol-unteering in conservation efforts. This trend seeks to minimise environmental impact, such as using reef-safe sunscreen and paying more for travel that leads to lower carbon emissions. Ferry finders utilise ferries as viable alternatives to aircraft for climate-conscious travellers.
WELLNESS
Tourism (or immunity booster holidays): Expected to grow at 16.6% annually and reach €2.3tn by 2027, driven by a focus on health and well-being. Modern tourists priori-tize self-improvement and health, engaging in meditation retreats, yoga, and health spas to rejuvenate without the need for recovery afterward. Adventure Wellness combines wellness and adventure to create the ultimate rejuvenating getaway. Biohacking involves leveraging science and technology to improve health, wellness, and overall travel experiences.
