It’s a new year, which means we’re tracking a slew of new trends and industry updates! We’re excited to see what 2025 brings for the hospitality, travel and social scenes, and if early accounts are any indication, it’s going to be an excellent year. From NOLA-inspired food and drinks to TikTok’s big reckoning, here’s what to keep an eye on in early Q1.
Trendspotting
How will we eat in 2025? This is our favorite NYT piece from Kim Severson every year, and she says, “2025 will be all about breaking rules and ignoring tradition.” Highlights include a whole lot of sauces, savory coffee, designer fruits and vegetables, micro-communities forming around food allergies and intolerances and Instagrammable packaging that makes takeout an artform. We’re encouraging clients to think outside the box when it comes to menu additions this year, so long as it doesn’t stray too far from their core brand.
Food tourism is dead: This interesting read from the NYT Opinion desk points out that you don’t need to travel to experience global cuisine and many popular “foodie” destinations have seen their culinary landscape transform by decades of immigration. So, although you may not need to travel to Paris for Laduree’s heavenly macarons, you should still visit to experience how immigrants are changing flavors and creating culinary communities in these cities.
More women plan to travel alone in 2025: “Tour operators, travel agents and cruise lines report growing demand from solo female travelers, especially older women flush with disposable income,” according to this NBC report. “Nearly 40% of female travelers voiced interest in setting out solo in 2025. . . While men are more likely to travel alone for leisure, women’s appetite for independent adventures is rising, and travel operators are working to cater to them.” If you’re a hotel or restaurant, it’s a good idea to think of ways to cater to this audience, such as elevated in-room amenities for self-care or splurge-worthy solo dining experiences at dedicated tables to save guests from unwanted small talk.
Even more food trends that will dominate 2025: Sunset predicts we’ll see detailed dishes that require craftsmanship and skill, a renewed interest in condiments, chef collaborations and meals for special moments — drawing a line between “everyday use” and “special occasion” as diners prioritize value and experience.
NOLA Inspired Food & Beverages: With a certain football game taking place in NOLA just weeks before Fat Tuesday, F&B media will surely be turning their attention to recipes inspired by the Crescent City in the first quarter. February/March could be a good time for fun pop-ups or LTO menu items inspired by the city and its rich culture.
Social Media News
TikTok’s Future Still TBD: While the final decision is still to come – and there’s a chance the new administration put the app back into play – it is looking like the app will be forced to cease operations come Jan. 19. If the ban does go into effect, TikTok will be removed by app store operators and won’t be available for download. For existing users, it won’t disappear, but because updates will be unavailable, it’s likely to become glitchy and have security vulnerabilities that will eventually lead to deletion. Stay tuned for more updates later this month.
Bluesky Adds Trending Topics: Now past 25 million users, Bluesky recently added its own version of trending topics to make it easier for users to tap into the latest discussions. With monthly users continuing to rise, it’s likely worth the time to claim brand channels in this app, but we wouldn’t recommend shifting too much strategy development just yet, as we prefer to see brands manage 2-3 platforms very well vs. being active on all of them with little strategy in place.
Reddit On the Rise: Reddit’s user base surpassed 1.22 billion in 2024 and continues to gain momentum. On top of that, it has become one of the top platforms that users trust when learning about new products and brands, likely because it relies on organic conversations and peer recommendations vs. paid ads. We’ve seen some brands start to authentically insert themselves into conversations (i.e., a mattress brand providing hard facts on the benefit of newer designs vs. making the conversation about them via sales messaging), and suspect this trend will continue to rise in 2025.
Instagram Introduces Trial Reels: A new way to test content by sharing reels first with non-followers, trial reels take the guesswork out of how content will perform and reduces stress over how followers will react. Key metrics are available about 24 hours after a trial reel is shared, and if performance is satisfactory, users can share the reel with everyone.
Personal Update Boosts on LinkedIn: LinkedIn’s latest move allows users to pay to boost personal posts, which could bring about a new type of LinkedIn influencer. Currently open to premium subscribers, the option is available for text, image, article, newsletter and video posts and cannot be used for job posts, documents or group posts at this time.
There’s No Slowing Stories Down: Stories create a sense of urgency and exclusivity that other marketing tactics can’t. Brands should capitalize on these for flash sales, countdowns to new menu launches, sneak peeks at new items, polls to encourage voting, etc. It’s worth noting that while Stories are more important than ever, Instagram is moving the highlight section of profiles from the top of the grid to their own tab, so TBD on how much impact these will have in the year ahead. While we wait to see if ongoing highlight strategies are worth it, focus efforts on daily story activity instead.
Carousels Are Back (Thankfully): Instagram recently announced that photos and carousels with music are now eligible to appear in the Reels tab, helping to reach people who aren’t currently following your channel(s). This is great on the creator side, except it will be difficult to navigate with increasing sensitivity surrounding music libraries and copyrighted music. Regardless, it’s a great option to fill in some void when it comes to Reels.
