FlightHub Releases Its Annual Hot List of Travel Destinations for 2025: Unveiled

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 28, 2025--

FlightHub ™, a leading North American online travel agency, is proud to announce the release of its highly anticipated 2025 Unveiled lists. Now in its annual edition, Unveiled is FlightHub’s curated view of the destinations and trends shaping how people are traveling. This year’s five lists span the FlightHub’s top 10 favorite destinations of 2025, the most-booked U.S. and Canadian cities, the year’s breakout hotspots, and a look inside booking quirks and records.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250828356444/en/

Based on booking behavior from Q4 2024 and the first half of 2025, along with travel searches and emerging trend signals, the lists reveal which places are holding strong, which newcomers are breaking through, and what’s driving travellers’ choices right now. From Fort Lauderdale claiming the top U.S. spot to Saskatoon entering Canada’s top 10 for the first time, the findings show a traveler who is increasingly drawn to destinations that balance access and value.

“What’s exciting about this year’s findings is how clearly they reflect the mindset of today’s traveler,” said Henri Chelhot, CEO of FlightHub. “People are choosing destinations that feel purposeful and memorable, whether that means returning to trusted favorites or venturing somewhere entirely new. The Unveiled lists capture that shift, showing not just where travelers are going, but why those places are earning a spot on their radar.”

FlightHub Picks — Best Value & Character

Hand-selected by FlightHub travel experts, these destinations balance personality, affordability, and experiences worth the trip. Banff’s alpine calm, Boracay’s sparkling beaches, and Vienna’s cultural layers all made the cut, alongside global finds like Busan, Doha, and Hammamet. These selections reflect not only rising travel trends but also the places that inspired the most buzz, curiosity, and personal excitement within the FlightHub team.

Top U.S. Travel Destinations

This year’s U.S. list shows some notable shifts—Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood overtakes New York City for the top spot, and Phoenix and Tampa break into the top 10, reflecting increased demand for sunny, experience-rich escapes.

Canada’s Standout Cities

While the Canadian list was led once again by Toronto and Vancouver, it also reflected a broadening of interest. Montreal climbed several spots with its food, nightlife, and events, while Saskatoon entered the top 10 for the first time, underscoring a growing curiosity for destinations outside the usual circuit.

Travel Trends by Demographic

The 2025 Unveiled lists also highlight how travel preferences vary across groups. Within the “Best of the Best” list, Cancun emerged as the top choice among women travelers, with one in six total bookings to the city made by female groups, while Medellín proved most popular with men traveling in groups, securing more than double the share seen in most other popular destinations. Puerto Vallarta stood out as a favorite for the Boomer generation, accounting for 32% of their bookings, and Lagos captured the spotlight as the most sought-after destination among solo travelers, with solo trips making up an impressive 84% of bookings.

"Travel behavior changes when you look at it through the lens of different groups," said Ayoub Hissar, Director of Communications at FlightHub. "By breaking down the data, we see not just the most popular destinations overall, but the deeper motivations and preferences driving those choices. That's where the real story of travel emerges."

As one of North America's largest online travel providers, FlightHub leverages its robust platform to decode where wanderlust is heading next. The full report also dives into additional insights, from the longest and shortest flights booked to the busiest travel months and most popular days for booking. To view the full 2025 Unveiled report, visit https://unveiled.flighthub.com/.

About the Methodology

FlightHub’s insights are based on North American booking data from its platform, covering travel reservations made between October 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. The findings reflect sales activity during this period and highlight trends across FlightHub’s vast customer base.

About FlightHub

FlightHub™ is a leading North American online travel agency (OTA) based in Montréal, Canada. FlightHub proudly serves millions every year, enabling more people to visit new places and explore new cultures. FlightHub's goal is to offer travellers the most affordable flights, optimal itineraries, and exceptional customer service. The leading online travel agency (OTA) believes that broadening travel possibilities and connecting people across borders increases human consciousness, reduces fear, and inspires positive change. Founded in 2012, FlightHub has facilitated more than 30 million connections.

For more information, please visit: https://www.flighthub.com/

FlightHub Releases Its Annual Hot List of Travel Destinations for 2025: Unveiled

OpenAI says it will soon start showing advertisements to ChatGPT users who aren't paying for a premium version of the chatbot.

The artificial intelligence company said Friday it hasn't yet rolled out ads but will start testing them in the coming weeks.

It's the latest effort by the San Francisco-based company to make money from ChatGPT's more than 800 million users, most of whom get it for free.

Though valued at $500 billion, the startup loses more money than it makes and has been looking for ways to turn a profit.

“Most importantly: ads will not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,” said Fidji Simo, the company’s CEO of applications, in a social media post Friday.

OpenAI said the digital ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT's answers “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.”

The ads “will be clearly labeled and separated from the organic answer,” the company said.

Two of OpenAI’s rivals, Google and Meta, have dominated digital advertising for years and already incorporate ads into some of their AI features.

Originally founded as a nonprofit with a mission to safely build better-than-human AI, OpenAI last year reorganized its ownership structure and converted its business into a public benefit corporation. It said Friday that its pursuit of advertising will be “always in support” of its original mission to ensure its AI technology benefits humanity.

But introducing personalized ads starts OpenAI “down a risky path” previously taken by social media companies, said Miranda Bogen of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

“People are using chatbots for all sorts of reasons, including as companions and advisors," said Bogen, director of CDT’s AI Governance Lab. “There’s a lot at stake when that tool tries to exploit users’ trust to hawk advertisers’ goods.”

OpenAI makes some money from paid subscriptions but needs more revenue to pay for its more than $1 trillion in financial obligations for the computer chips and data centers that power its AI services. The risk that OpenAI won’t make enough money to fulfill the expectations of backers like Oracle and Nvidia has amplified investor concerns about an AI bubble.

“It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we are hopeful a business model like this can work,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a post Friday on social platform X. He added that he likes the ads on Meta's Instagram because they show him things he wouldn't have found otherwise.

OpenAI claims it won't use a user's personal information or prompts to collect data for ads, but the question is “for how long,” said Paddy Harrington, an analyst at research group Forrester.

“Free services are never actually free and these public AI platforms need to generate revenue,” Harrington said. “Which leads to the adage: If the service is free, you’re the product.”

FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)