Let’s go, world: Top 5 global destinations for summer 2025

Summer is the season of wanderlust. As the weather warms up at home, families get the urge to pack their bags, brush up on Duolingo lessons and explore places abroad. What’s the hottest of the hot spots this year? Konnichiwa, Japan!

The Mastercard Economics Institute, in a new report published today, has sifted through aggregated and anonymized flight-booking data for travel this summer and compared each destination’s share to its 2024 share to determine the 10 highest-trending hot spots.

This year, cities edged out surf, and the Pacific Rim dominated. At 10 on the list was Singapore, followed by Rio de Janeiro at nine, Madrid, eight, Beijing, seven, and Seoul, six. Here are this year’s top five.

05
Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Tourists from all over Europe, and increasingly the rest of the world, are landing in this beach town off the Mediterranean coast of Spain — so much so that officials are considering following in the footsteps of its Balearic Island neighbor, Ibiza, by capping the number of rental cars as well as limiting the number of air arrivals. What’s drawing these droves to the city, dominated by the Gaudi-restored Gothic cathedral and dotted with art galleries and picturesque plaças? The beach, the food and, most of all, the fiestas. In Palma de Mallorca, the fiestas are forever — well, at least all summer long.

04
Shanghai

For those who have already been to Paris, why not visit the “Paris of the East”? Shanghai is a city of art and culture where one can eat very, very well, especially if one is a fan of soup dumplings. (An influx of European expats can attest to quality French pastries too.) But recently, there has been an important development: New Chinese environmental policies have reduced air pollution dramatically, so all those Instagrammable shots of you nibbling on bao in front of the Bund Bull will have sky-blue backgrounds again.

03
Paris

Paris remains a summer tourist Seine-sation. Although the Olympics were last summer, you can still fulfill your dreams of athletic glory by racing to the Olympic cauldron in the Jardin des Tuileries or even swimming in the river like a triathlete — they swear it’s safe (most of the time.) If that’s too 2024 for you, squeeze in one last visit to the Centre Pompidou before it closes for a five-year rehab project or enjoy the traditional Parisian pleasures of shopping, strolling and sipping café au lait at a sidewalk cafe.

02
Osaka, Japan

The gritty port city of Osaka earned the nickname “the nation’s kitchen” hundreds of years ago for its rice warehouses, but today it still lives up to the handle, flush with both Michelin stars and a robust street food scene, including the local favorite takoyaki (octopus pancakes) and a Netflix-famous stand-up izakaya where the chef blasts his tuna with a flamethrower. Other draws? Its nightlife, historic Osaka Castle and its seasonal fanfare of cherry blossoms, and nearby Universal Studios Japan, the first such theme park to open outside the U.S.

01
Tokyo

Beat it, beer and brats — Tokyo replaces last summer’s trendiest destination, Munich, which was home base for the European Football Championships, at the top of the list. As of March, Tokyo has already hosted 10 million visitors. Once one of the world’s most expensive cities, Tokyo is now much more affordable due to depreciation of the yen. And while Tokyo beats out Osaka in Michelin stars — in fact, it has the most in the world, even topping Paris — those on a tighter budget, never fear. One of the many modern cultural wonders of Japan is the convenience store: You can dine very well (think onigiri, fresh fish and ramen) at 7-Eleven.