Tripadvisor flags surge in pet-friendly and adventure travel

Tripadvisor has published its second annual Trendcast report, drawing on search, booking and behavioural data alongside user-generated content from more than one billion reviews and contributions on its platform.

The company said the data shows pet-friendly travel bookings rose 260% year on year, while extreme adventure experiences increased 79% as travellers increasingly plan trips around activities and shared experiences.

“This year’s Trendcast continues to reflect a shift in how people are approaching travel, with experiences increasingly leading travel decisions,” said Laurel Greatrix, chief communications officer at Tripadvisor.

“Across searches, bookings, and reviews, we see consistent patterns: travelers are prioritizing experiences that create local connection, offer physical challenge, and make it easier for the whole group to say yes,” she added.

The report highlighted strong growth in so-called sweat jetting and fitness tourism, with interest in the Chicago Marathon up more than 300%, the Boston Marathon up 228% and the Berlin Marathon up 222%, alongside a 25% rise in stadium tours.

Tripadvisor said extreme adventure travel also expanded, with glacier tours up 29%, lava field excursions up 79% and heli-hiking experiences up 56%.

Child-led planning emerged as another theme, with experience bookings including children’s tickets rising 19%, heritage tours increasing 40% and cooking classes up 47%, the company said.

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Nightlife-related bookings also grew, including a 29% increase in DJ-set experiences and 64% growth in listening bars, while bookings for dog-welcome experiences rose 260% year on year.

Tripadvisor said the Trendcast methodology draws on platform search and booking data, internal log files and SimilarWeb unique users, de-duplicated monthly as of January 2025, with the full report available on the Tripadvisor Trendcast site.

The Recap

• Tripadvisor launched its second annual Trendcast travel report.
• Bookings for pet-friendly experiences grew up 260% year-on-year.
• Full Trendcast report is available on Tripadvisor Trendcast.