Hilton’s '2025 Trends Report: The Vacation Maximized’ won Gold in Data/Insight at The Drum Awards for Marketing, showcasing Hilton’s strategic approach to uncovering and sharing evolving traveler preferences through extensive research and innovative storytelling.
Hilton’s annual Global Travel Trends Report was created as a solution – a strategic approach to telling Hilton’s holistic innovation story. As an insights-driven company, Hilton continuously evolves alongside travelers’ changing preferences, and the Trends Report has become an indispensable resource for both media and internal stakeholders, offering valuable findings that share industry conversations.
Hilton’s fourth-annual report, 2025 Trends Report: The Vacation Maximized, unveiled the rising travel trends predicted to ignite conversation and innovation while reshaping the travel experience in 2025. During ‘The Year of the Travel Maximizer,’ travelers will seek to pair their desire to relax and recharge with high-impact adventures and experiences to get the most out of their time and financial investment.
Hilton expanded its research strategy to uncover the report’s themes, conducting dozens of long-form interviews with executives and industry experts that dove into emerging trends and their implications for the travel industry. For the first time, Hilton surveyed thousands of team members across the globe, capturing on-the-ground perspectives and predictions to enrich the report’s authenticity. Hilton also reviewed other impactful trend reports during the research phase to uncover what is driving consumer and media conversations. A global kickoff meeting brought these insights together, with members of the Communications Team dissecting the most impactful trends impacting the travel industry and beyond.
Externally, Hilton partnered with Ipsos to survey more than 13,000 travelers in seven languages across 13 countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. In Asia Pacific, an additional survey of 8,000 Gen Z and Millennial parents from Australia, mainland China, India, Japan, and Singapore was conducted to further regionalize the campaign narrative and showcase how Gen Alpha is influencing travel. Similarly, key themes were tested via regional research in the UK, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and Turkey to appeal to market-specific media targets. As the next phase of research for the report’s special edition, Hilton commissioned a U.S. survey of more than 1,000 adults planning to attend an in-person work meeting or event over the next two years, which revealed key insights into the future of the industry.
Hilton’s expanded research efforts have led to a more dynamic storytelling approach. Key themes highlighted a dichotomy in traveler preferences – from the continued rise of sleep tourism to the growing demand for adventure travel and nostalgia-inspired getaways. Based on these insights, Hilton also introduced distinct traveler types within the report, such as “MeMooners,” or solo travelers, and “Frolleagues,” or friends who are also colleagues.
The report’s launch was supported by a comprehensive strategy, including embargoed and sustained media outreach, an interactive Stories From Hilton report via the brand’s newsroom page, compelling social media content, and more. These efforts resulted in increased media coverage and reach across consumer lifestyle, travel, business, and trade outlets, further solidifying Hilton’s position as a global leader in travel innovation. Beyond media impact, report insights have been utilized by Hilton executives for on-stage speaking opportunities and interviews, serving as a guiding light for innovation storytelling across the enterprise. The report was also a driving storyline for Hilton’s largest media event in recent history. By continuously advancing its research methodology and embracing data-driven narratives, Hilton is actively shaping industry conversations.
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