Asia dominates the top travel destinations in 2025, as more travellers trend toward wellness and wild places, great food and big games, according to the Mastercard Economic Institute (MEI).
To compile the list, MEI analysed data from OAG, the leading data platform for the global travel industry, to determine which destinations saw the largest increase in tourism demand for the summer (June through September) compared to last year.
Cities in the Asia-Pacific region dominated, accounting for eight of 15 spots, including three in the top five: Tokyo (1), Osaka (2) and Shanghai (4). Seoul (6), Beijing (7) and Singapore (10) rounded out Asian destinations in the top 10, followed by Nha Trang in Vietnam (11) and the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka (13).
Japan and China had the most entries, with three and two, respectively – Egypt was the only country outside of Asia to land on the list more than once, taking the last two spots with Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh.
Tokyo started its climb last year, thanks in large part to the depreciating Japanese yen. MEI found that a weaker currency can be a draw as travellers look to get the most bang for their buck. Record numbers of Singaporeans visited Japan in 2024, for example, thanks to a 40 percent rise in the Singaporean dollar compared to the Japanese yen.
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But foreign exchange rates are only one factor. MEI found that today’s tourists are prioritising experiences, and many are looking to get away from it all, fuelling rising trends in wellness tourism and adventure tourism.
Namibia, South Africa and Thailand are leading the way in wellness experiences and self-care, offering visitors a chance to reconnect with nature or recentre themselves at a peaceful meditation retreat. Namibia and South Africa are also popular adventure destinations, capitalising on their well-funded national parks to draw in travellers, while Japan, New Zealand and Malaysia are seeing growth thanks to their stunning landscapes.
Foodies favour a great meal when picking a destination and their tastes trend toward Europe. Istanbul topped the list, the average restaurant in the Turkish city hosting diners from 67 different countries in 2024. Mediterranean fare rules in Europe, with cities in France, Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, Greece and Malta also topping the list, while the draw in Miami and New York is the gastronomical melting pot made possible by long histories of immigration. Asia is less represented here, with only two cities in the top 10.
Sports tourism, another key trend identified by MEI, highlights how fans are willing to follow their teams halfway across the world. Japanese tourists, for example, travelled en masse to Los Angeles to watch Shohei Ohtani play in his first World series, while then-Yankee Juan Soto drew Dominican fans to the New York leg of the series.
Hosting major sporting events – especially without the infrastructure costs of an Olympics or even a World Cup – can offer a massive boost in foreign travel, whether it’s from overseas or right next door, as was the case with the Copa Libertadores Final in Argentina pulling in Brazilian fans.
