As 2025 draws to a close, Karryon founder Matt Leedham reflects on a chaotic and correctional year for travel, shaped by AI hype, global disruption, and human resilience, before turning to what truly matters for the industry in 2026.
Following the post-pandemic travel boom years, 2025 was widely expected to be a correction, as they like to say in the stock markets. And it certainly has been. However, aside from the pandemic itself, I can’t recall a year that has so forcefully challenged assumptions, disrupted norms and tested confidence across the business and travel sectors.
As 2025 draws to a close, I wanted to pause, not just to say thank you, but to reflect honestly on the year that was and look ahead with weary, yet optimistic eyes.
While we know that life is inherently uncertain, this year pushed many far beyond their limits to cope with that word we all quickly grew tired of hearing during the pandemic. Uncertainty in 2025 meant economies worldwide stalled or spiked, destination habits shifted, booking seasons blurred, and many long-held beliefs were quietly dismantled. Across travel, politics, technology, tariffs, media and entertainment, the models and rules we had relied on for decades shifted, sometimes overnight.
We’ve lived through a year where, once again, technology promised everything and delivered, well, more fear and confusion. AI hype went mainstream with the champagne promise of the great unlock: more time, more creativity and more productivity. And in many ways, it has delivered, with tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot now embedded across Australian workplaces and powering everyday life through our smartphones and devices. What hasn’t been so helpful is the attention-sapping, industrial-scale rise of AI-generated slop, fake travel content, influencers and low-value material flooding feeds.
Sadly, for some of our industry colleagues, particularly in travel technology, the lived reality has been redundancies, rising pressure and burnout, often justified in the name of efficiency and shareholder profit.
As automation accelerates and business models chase scale and efficiency, many fear a future increasingly optimised for machines, not humans. There’s growing concern that over-reliance on AI-mediated interaction can intensify isolation, reinforcing a simple truth: technology may simulate connection, but it cannot replace it.
And yet, here’s the beautiful paradox. Travel itself has never been more relevant.
We work across travel distribution: airlines, wholesalers, tour operators, cruise lines, hotels, destinations and, critically, travel advisors, who remain the human connective tissue of this industry. The people translating complexity into confidence. Turning product into journeys. And travellers into storytellers.
We don’t just sell travel.
We connect people to places, to cultures, to themselves and to each other.
That matters.
Australian outbound travel continued to grow in 2025, with the ABS reporting short-term resident returns up 7.9% year-on-year in October, and the data showing Japan, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Singapore among the standout movers.
Event-led travel also shaped demand, building on the “Swift effect” of late 2024 and accelerating again with major 2025 tours in Australia, such as those featuring Oasis and Lady Gaga, as well as sporting events, influencing where and why people travelled.
Price played a defining role in shaping a two-speed travel economy. At one end, low-cost carriers and value-led travel to Asia surged as households adjusted to tighter budgets. At the pointy end, luxury travel continued to perform strongly, driven by those who prioritise comfort, experience, and the social currency that travel provides.
At the same time, there is no shortage of work to be done.
As an industry, we face complex and interconnected challenges, ranging from sustainability alignment and climate impact to fair wages, modern slavery, workforce shortages, and how we attract, skill, and support the next generation of travel professionals. These are not issues any one business, brand or government can solve alone. Progress will only come through collaboration, shared accountability and a genuine willingness to work together.
Geopolitics also reshaped travel sentiment in 2025. The conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and the Middle East continued, with parts of Asia, the UAE, and areas of Europe experiencing changes as destinations adapt to shifting flows and sensitivities. Overtourism has returned to the spotlight, emerging in places such as Japan as well as the usual European hotspots and even Antarctica and South Africa, reigniting debates around capacity and community impact. Growth, however, hasn’t been universal, with Australian travel to the U.S. experiencing a notable double-digit decline since Trump took office for his second term in January.
Closer to home, we’ve also experienced deep loss. This year, our industry lost many much-loved people. We’ve celebrated lives well lived and consoled one another through grief, a reminder that this is, first and always, a people industry. Most recently, Australians, including the travel industry, united in the wake of the horrific Bondi attack, choosing compassion and community in incredibly dark times.
Travel truly can be a force for good. Let us never forget that.
So, where does travel sit now in all of this?
As strong as ever. But changed.
Following the recent boom years, 2025 demanded adaptability, humility and resilience. And while challenges remain, our industry has never been more open to collaboration or embracing new ways of working together.
Looking ahead, TRA forecasts continued growth, but at softer, more normalised rates as cost-of-living pressures and higher travel costs weigh on demand.
For 2026, the fundamentals feel clear. Human connection will matter more than ever. Collaboration will outperform competition. Trust and authority will cut through the noise. And time, real rest and real presence must be respected and protected.
In that context, perhaps the most critical skill we can teach the next generation isn’t technical at all, but the value, importance and craft of human relationships: empathy, communication and trust.
At this time of year, everyone, including us at Karryon, wants to predict the future. Forecasts, travel trends, outlooks and hot takes fill our feeds. But if this year has taught us anything, it’s that the crystal ball is broken.
Because let’s be honest. We have no real idea of what will happen in 2026.
But while the crystal ball may be defunct, our sense of agency isn’t. As management thinker Peter Drucker once put it, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Travel will continue to evolve. The world will remain complex. But the connective power of travel, and the people behind it, isn’t going anywhere.
Thank you to all of you! To our loyal readers, partners, and community, for your trust, your curiosity, and your continued support in 2025.
We’re proud to share that Karryon reached 32 million travel lovers* this year across all digital channels globally, connecting both the travel trade and travellers, and maintaining our #1 category ranking on Similarweb throughout 2025.
On behalf of all of us at Karryon, we wish you and your loved ones all the very best for the holiday season and the new year.
Karryon into 2026, together in travel.
*32 million travel lovers includes all Karryon web traffic, plus Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and email newsletter audiences for 2025.
