The big travel winners of 2025 are clear: the USA, France, and Canada lead the global ranking, followed by Italy, Australia, Spain, Germany, the UK, Japan, and Portugal. Ten destinations, ten different travel identities—and together they tell a story about what modern travellers value today: cultural depth, emotional resonance, and frictionless digital freedom.

This year’s insights come from Holafly’s GIobal eSIM & Travel Report 2025–2026, presented during WTM London. With 44% of people worldwide taking at least one international trip in 2025, the world is travelling again—but not in the same way as before.

USA still rules global travel—even with slowing growth

Despite a slowdown from pre-pandemic peaks, the USA remains the world’s most-visited country. The U.S. Travel Association projects international arrivals to reach around 68 million in 2025, down from the 79 million seen in 2019—yet the country still dominates.

And it’s not hard to understand why. There’s nowhere else where New York’s skyline, Utah’s red canyons, Florida’s tropical energy, and California’s coastal calm coexist in one destination. Even with softer growth, the US continues to pull travellers with sheer variety, cultural weight, and narrative power.

France and Canada rise on culture, nature and global identity

France remains France—a modern cultural magnet with a global fan base. Art, food, elegance, heritage…it’s eternal. But what’s new is the growing emotional pull: travellers want beauty, and France consistently delivers.

But the real climber this year is Canada. Big nature, big openness, and a global reputation for safety and friendliness have pushed it decisively into the top three. In a world where travellers are exhausted by noise, Canada represents space—geographic and emotional.

The rise of lifestyle travel: Italy, Spain and Portugal

Italy and Spain continue to anchor Europe’s appeal. They combine heritage with lifestyle in a way few countries can match. People aren’t just visiting cities anymore—they’re “sampling ways of living,” and Southern Europe is the global poster child for la dolce vita in all its forms.

Portugal’s presence in the top ten highlights another trend: destinations that feel intimate but globally accessible. It offers warmth, soul, and smaller-scale travel experiences that feel personal, not mass-market.

Australia, Japan, and Northern Europe attract curious travellers

Australia’s inclusion signals the return of long-haul ambition. For many, it represents “the big trip,” and that desire has returned stronger than expected.

Germany and the UK remain steady performers thanks to their cultural weight, connectivity, and global influence. Meanwhile, Japan continues its reign as a travel icon, where tradition and futurism blend into one of the world’s most distinctive travel experiences.

Travellers are changing—and so is the meaning of “a trip”

Holafly’s report highlights a striking shift: nearly every traveller visited at least one new country in 2025, and 46.4% of all international trips were first-time entries. Curiosity is rising—but so is loyalty, with 74% planning to return to the top destinations they visited.

And the behaviour shifts run deeper:

Key traveller trends in 2025

• Internet abroad is now “the new passport.” Only 3% of travellers stay offline.
• Connectivity is oxygen. 9 in 10 travellers say seamless internet is essential, not optional.
• Trips increased. 29% travelled more than in 2024 — but distances matter less; purpose matters more.
• Depth over quantity. 56% took two or more international trips, but with longer stays and fewer destinations.
• Younger travellers (<44) are building lifestyles where work, life and travel blend together.
• Hybrid mobility (short trips + longer stays) is becoming the norm.
• Digital independence powers solo and friends-only travel.
• Older generations value safety and reconnection; younger ones value freedom and flexibility.
• eSIM adoption is accelerating—17% globally, 25% under 35.
• Work-travel fusion grows: 26% choose destinations where they can combine work and leisure.

A traveller looking for meaning, not miles

As Holafly’s Pablo Gómez puts it, “Travellers in 2025 are seeking places that feel meaningful. The destination is no longer a single city—it’s the soul of the whole country.”

Connectivity plays a huge role here. With the rise of eSIM platforms like Holafly, Airalo, Airhub, and Yesim, access to affordable digital roaming has become the infrastructure enabling deeper, longer, more flexible travel. Reports from Skift, UN Tourism, and McKinsey’s Future of Travel analyses show the same pattern: travellers are choosing destinations that align with personal identity, offer emotional clarity, and—importantly—guarantee stable digital access for work, navigation, safety, and sharing.

Conclusion: The top destinations of 2025 reveal a new travel economy

What this year’s ranking ultimately shows is a structural shift in the global travel economy—one driven less by geography and more by digital capability. The destinations rising fastest aren’t necessarily the cheapest, safest, or closest; they’re the ones that align with a new traveller mindset built around mobility, identity, and uninterrupted connectivity.

The latest research from UN Tourism, Skift’s Megatrends 2025, and McKinsey’s Travel Reimagined echoes the same trajectory: travel is becoming more hybrid, more intentional, and more digitally dependent than at any point in the last decade. Travellers are no longer separating leisure from work or adventure from routine—and countries that support this blended mobility with strong digital infrastructure, clear entry systems, and reliable 4G/5G coverage are gaining a competitive advantage.

This is also why eSIM adoption is accelerating far beyond traditional roaming patterns. Analysts at GSMA Intelligence predict that global eSIM penetration will more than double by 2027, driven largely by younger travellers and remote professionals who refuse connectivity gaps as part of the travel experience. Brands like Holafly, Airalo, Airhub, and Fairplay-Mobile are shaping this landscape by normalizing instant, low-friction data access across borders. Holafly Global eSIM & Travel Report

Looking forward, the winners won’t simply be the biggest tourism economies—they’ll be the most connected. Countries that integrate digital identity, seamless border processes, and strong public-private partnerships around connectivity will attract longer stays, more remote workers, and higher-value travellers. And as AI-driven travel planning and real-time service personalisation continue to expand, the destinations that offer stable digital ecosystems will become the default choices for a new generation of global movers.

The travel map of 2025 is more than a ranking—it is an early indicator of the next decade.
The destinations that understand that digital access is the new travel infrastructure will shape the future of tourism, global mobility, and the traveller economy.

The destinations rising fastest are the ones that understand a simple truth:
Modern travelers don’t just want to see a place—they want to feel connected to it, digitally and emotionally.