After years of global uncertainty, the summer of 2025 became a season of rediscovery. According to the Travel eSIM Report – Summer 2025 by Holafly, nearly three out of four people took at least one trip between June and August. Yet, the way they moved paints a striking portrait of a world that’s both borderless and cautious.
While 38% of travellers ventured abroad, the majority — almost 63% — chose to stay within their own borders, turning to national parks, hometown beaches, and small-town escapes. The result: a travel landscape that’s not shrinking, but recalibrating.
“The 2025 season confirmed that people’s appetite for travel hasn’t faded,” said Pablo Gómez, CEO of Holafly. “Digital access has become an inseparable travel companion — although traditional SIM cards and roaming still dominate, eSIM adoption is accelerating and virtually everyone who tried one would do so again.”
Regional realities, global ambitions
Holafly’s data reveals just how uneven travel recovery looks across continents. North America was the most outward-looking region, with 88% of travellers going abroad, many venturing as far as Australia and South Africa. Europe, by contrast, struck a balance: 57% of Europeans travelled abroad, benefiting from proximity, open borders, and low-cost carriers.
Latin America, on the other hand, stood out for its strong domestic focus: over 70% of travellers stayed within their own countries, a pattern driven by currency pressures and economic volatility. In Asia-Pacific, the opposite trend emerged — 73% of respondents travelled internationally, a reflection of rising incomes, better air connectivity, and a new middle class eager to explore beyond their region.
In Africa, nearly 90% of those who travelled did so internationally, reflecting diaspora links and expanding ties with emerging markets. Yet Holafly’s analysts note that this represents a privileged minority, as structural barriers — from high costs to limited connectivity — still limit access to travel for many.
Multi-destination travel on the rise
The report also highlights a significant behavioural shift: travellers are squeezing more value out of every journey. 43% visited more than one destination this summer, confirming that the single-stop vacation is giving way to itineraries that feel more like micro-expeditions. Improved transport networks in Europe and Asia make it easier than ever to connect multiple cities, while travellers’ desire to maximise experiences per trip is redefining how vacations are planned.
From Barcelona to Bangkok, 2025’s travellers balanced curiosity with pragmatism, seeking novelty without neglecting comfort. The trend signals a new phase of “globalised but regionalised” mobility, where the dream of discovery coexists with the realities of inflation, climate anxiety, and tighter budgets.
A reflection of our world
What emerges from Holafly’s findings is more than a set of statistics. It’s a portrait of a planet in transition, one where travel mirrors the broader human condition: connected yet cautious, adventurous yet aware.
Even as borders reopen and long-haul routes fill again, the traveller of 2025 seems to be guided less by distance and more by meaning. They’re not just chasing faraway horizons, but rediscovering what’s nearby, proving that in today’s connected world, exploration doesn’t always mean going far.
