Alcohol-free, sober travel on the rise

To address the demand, the chain launched Tempo by Hilton’s cocktail program, which includes “Spirited” selections with alcohol, as well as “Free-Spirited” versions that mirror classic

cocktails in presentation, mouthfeel, flavor and sophistication — without any of the octane. You can do more than just sip. In the Maldives, Jumeirah Maldives Olhahali Island’s new

zero-proof mixology master class taps alcohol-free gins, rums and whiskeys. The 57-guest-room Deer Path Inn, an English-inspired boutique hotel in Lake Forest, Illinois, recently debuted a

Zero-Proof Experience as a year-round offering geared toward “sober-conscious” travelers. The package includes DIY mocktail mixology kits in rooms, as well as a private lesson with the

hotel’s chief spirits officer, Jorge Centeno, during which guests might learn to make seasonally inspired mocktails. “Our team loves seeing nondrinkers delight in the whimsy that can be

infused into beverages sans alcohol — like the Christmas Cup, which is served in a snow globe,” Centeno says. At revered gastronomic outposts such as Restaurant R’evolution at the Royal

Sonesta hotel (along Bourbon Street, no less) in New Orleans and New York City’s Per Se, mocktail offerings, including the former’s Piña Col-Nada (coconut milk, coconut water and pineapple

juice) and Berry Me Above Ground (fresh berry mélange, ginger and lemon), get prime placement on menus. SOBER TOURS ARE NOT JUST FOR PEOPLE IN RECOVERY Sober travel, of course, goes beyond

mocktails (which can be triggering for some people in recovery) and appeals to a range of travelers, says Darci Murray, 50, the founder of Hooked — Alcohol Free Travel Adventure. “I find

that a lot of my guests are just alcohol-free, not part of a recovery program; they’re all about healthy living and healthy habits,” says Murray, who stopped drinking six years ago and

launched the company in 2021 after working as a travel agent for 18 years. “I found it to be no fun at all traveling with people that were drinking,” she says. “I decided I can’t be the

only person in the world who wants to experience like-minded people traveling together.” On her trips — which max out at 14 people and tend to have an equal spread of travelers in recovery

and those who just prefer the alcohol-free lifestyle — Murray says activities such as chocolate carving and cold-water plunges in Iceland and line dancing or monster truck rides around

Nashville fill the hours when people would otherwise be drinking. “I think it’s hard for sober people to imagine group travel that’s every bit as fun and funny as drinking life was, and I

see it in their faces. They are surprised by how much fun we have.” —Brooke Morton, founder of Sober Outside “You might not have known you were a photographer who liked sunsets or that you

liked line dancing,” she says. “We expose people to activities they might not have participated in.” Murray says that when she started her company, she thought it would mainly attract sober

travelers, but she’s been surprised how many guests just want to have a healthier lifestyle overall. Other companies offering alcohol-free group travel include We Love Lucid and Sober

Vacations International, which feature cruises and land tours geared toward people in recovery.  “We are putting out trips as fast as we can, and then they get filled,” says Max Abrams,

director of business development with Sober Vacations International, which runs roughly eight trips a year to locations around the world. Abrams said 2024’s Sober Village trip to Turks and

Caicos — an annual tradition during which the company rents out an entire all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean for roughly 500 people — sold out faster than ever (in 42 hours versus the

previous record of one week). Retreats are another way to go (or remain) alcohol-free on vacation.