Not long ago, luxury travellers planned their itineraries to see and be seen. Now the ultimate flex is hiding entirely from public view.

Yesterday’s hallmarks of status – a sun-drenched table at Le Club 55 near St Tropez, a front-row lounger at Cala Jondal in Ibiza, dropping anchor off Nammos Beach in Mykonos – have been overtaken by influencers. Anonymity and discretion have become prime commodities for today’s most affluent travellers.

Stealth wealth may have given way to flashiness in 2025, but stealth travel is still all the rage.

“We’ve noticed a shift away from the typical luxury hotspots toward destinations that offer a deeper sense of privacy and exclusivity,” says Jaclyn Sienna India, CEO of Sienna Charles, a travel consultant catering to billionaires and the global 1 per cent.

Clients are increasingly favouring places that require genuine effort to reach, signalling a desire for experiences that are intentionally off the beaten path: Lake Orta over Lake Como; Corsica over Cannes; Patmos over Mykonos; Menorca over Mallorca; and private island resorts throughout the Caribbean, such as Como Parrot Cay or Jumby Bay Island, over the high-profile hang-outs of Saint Barts.

The shift is trickling down to more luxury travellers and affecting the expansion strategies of legacy hospitality brands. Not only are they building resorts in some of these next-great destinations, but they are also designing them to have the privacy-first blueprints that skyrocketed in demand during the pandemic.

“Hotels are creating more stand-alone accommodation, like cottages, so people can have the privacy of a villa rental even within a resort,” says Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of high-end travel company Indagare.