There was a time when a trip abroad meant a checklist: the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, a canal ride in Venice. You took your photos, you went home. That model of travel isn’t gone, but it’s quietly being replaced by something harder to photograph and far more personal. People are increasingly arriving in a new city not to see it, but to feel it.
The shift is more than a lifestyle trend. It’s reshaping how the entire travel industry operates, from how hotels market themselves to how airlines think about their routes. Understanding why it’s happening requires looking at who’s doing the traveling, what they actually want, and what the numbers are starting to confirm.
The Data Behind the Shift
A striking near-unanimous share of travelers now say experiences are very or extremely important when deciding where to go, and those experiences are at the core of traveler decisions, both when choosing a destination and deciding how long to stay. That kind of consensus is unusual in consumer research. It suggests the change isn’t fringe or generational in the narrow sense; it cuts across demographics.
Travelers from the US booked an average of 4.7 tours while on a trip in 2023, up from 2.7 in 2019, according to in-destination experiences firm Arival. That’s not a marginal uptick. It reflects a genuine recalibration of what people expect to do when they travel, not just where they land.
A Market That Has Grown Into the Hundreds of Billions
The global travel experiences market was estimated to reach around 360 billion US dollars in 2025. That figure speaks to how much weight people now put on paid, structured activities when they travel. McKinsey estimates that paid, structured tourist activities account for roughly a quarter of global experience spending, totaling between 250 and 310 billion dollars per year, covering everything from nature hikes to spa treatments, and experts estimate growth in this segment of more than 14 percent per year by 2025.
Travel research firm Skift has described experiential travel as travel that prioritizes personalized and immersive activities over traditional sightseeing, and predicts it will explode in coming years as younger generations place more emphasis on the category. The implication for the industry is significant: experiences are no longer a bonus add-on at the end of trip planning. They are increasingly the reason for the trip itself.
Younger Generations Are Leading the Charge
According to McKinsey survey data, more than half of Gen Zers say they splurge on experiences, compared with less than a third of baby boomers, and Gen Z travelers say they try to save money on flights, local transportation, shopping, and food before trimming their spending on experiences. That is a meaningful inversion of older travel priorities, where flights and hotels tended to absorb the biggest share of the budget.
Millennials and Gen Z appear to be leading the charge on the trend, with roughly seven in ten respondents from those two age groups saying they would forego daily luxuries like coffeeshop orders and food delivery to save money for travel experiences. For millennials, travel is less about ticking off iconic landmarks and more about collecting stories and memories, with a strong emphasis on experiences that enrich their perspective and connect them with local cultures.
The “Explorer” Traveler Type Is Reshaping Spending Patterns
A newly identified traveler type, described as “Explorers,” accounts for over 60 percent of all leisure travel spending. They do more trips and spend more money on experiences than other travelers because they actively prioritize travel in their lives. This group is driving a disproportionate share of growth in the experience economy.
Explorers take four or more leisure trips per year compared to 2.8 for the average traveler, and are more than half again as likely to spend more on activities compared to past trips. They prioritize authentic experiences, cultural immersion, and making lasting memories. As travelers pivot away from material purchases, they’re prioritizing memorable experiences, and spending on experiences now surpasses spending on tangible goods.
Food, Culture, and Nature Have Replaced Landmark Checklists
According to Hilton’s 2024 Travel Trends report, roughly half of travelers across all generations focus on culinary experiences as a top travel priority. The same share will prioritize exploration and adventure, with Gen Z and Millennials carving out more budget for these types of experiences than other generations.
Skyscanner’s survey found that nearly one in five US travelers and around one in twelve UK travelers would fly long haul to see their favorite artist perform, and nearly half of US travelers have booked a destination purely based on a specific restaurant they want to visit. Customers are increasingly going beyond the usual museum visits, concerts, tours, or excursions, with options like dark sky tours in Norway, yurting in Mongolia, and slow safaris in Africa appearing on top travel lists.
Social Media Has Redefined How Trips Are Planned
Social media now heavily influences destination choices, with roughly three quarters of travel decisions affected by platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The role of these platforms goes beyond passive inspiration. Social network information has gradually become a key factor in stimulating and influencing individual travel behavior decisions.
Close to nine in ten Gen Z consumers follow at least one travel influencer on TikTok, and nearly half of Gen Zers trust travel recommendations made by influencers. Thanks to technology and the power of social media, travel is no longer just about visiting iconic landmarks; it’s about discovering new experiences, exploring hidden gems, and creating memories that are uniquely personal.
Wellness Travel Is Becoming a Cornerstone of the Experience Economy
Wellness, an important part of experiential travel, saw dynamic growth in recent years as the pandemic boosted interest in personal wellbeing. The value of the wellness tourism market was predicted to climb to over one trillion dollars in 2024, recording a compound annual growth rate of more than 16 percent from 2022 to 2027, according to the Global Wellness Institute.
The Global Wellness Institute valued the global wellness tourism market at over 880 billion dollars in 2024, and its rapid integration with experiential travel formats, including yoga retreats in Bali, Ayurvedic spa journeys in Kerala, and forest bathing programs in Japan, is creating a powerful hybrid segment that commands premium pricing and attracts high-loyalty repeat travelers. These aren’t spa weekends in a local hotel. They’re immersive journeys designed around personal transformation.
The Rise of Slowcations and Immersive Travel Styles
Slowcations, described as leisurely and immersive travel focusing on quality over quantity and encouraging deep connection with a destination by spending more time there, were found to be the most popular of emerging travel trends tested, with more than half of American travelers finding them appealing. The appeal, largely, is permission to actually be somewhere rather than just pass through it.
Travelers are not just checking off destinations; they’re looking for the feelings and experiences that come with each place, creating their own story of exploration and learning. New trends like immersive travel, slow travel, and the experience economy show a clear move toward personal and meaningful adventures. Instead of checking off landmarks, travelers are engaging with traditions and history at a meaningful pace, and the travel industry is responding by offering more immersive experiences and flexible itineraries.
Authenticity Is Now a Non-Negotiable
Gen Z is seeking authenticity in-destination as a demographic that continues to drive a shift toward experiential travel, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach. If Millennials paved the way with their focus on cultural immersion, Gen Z is blazing a trail for tailor-made experiences that align with their personal values.
The rapid acceleration of experiential demand is underpinned by a generational value realignment in which Millennials and Gen Z consumers consistently prioritize experiences over material goods, and according to global consumer surveys conducted in late 2024 and early 2025, more than three quarters of leisure travelers across 20 major markets indicated that having at least one memorable, locally authentic experience was a primary trip-planning criterion, up from 61 percent in 2020. That upward trajectory shows no sign of leveling off.
What This Means for the Future of Travel
Data from 2024 shows a strong appetite for travel, with the vast majority of travelers planning to spend the same or more on trips compared to the year before. More than three quarters say that having the right travel experience matters more than the price of the trip. This experience-first mindset is increasingly shaping how people book travel.
Intense global demand for travel experiences that resonate on a deeper emotional level is driving travel brands to develop products that are more adventurous, more personalized, and more attuned to local culture. The places, platforms, and providers that understand this are already adjusting. The ones still selling the old checklist model of tourism are finding a smaller and less enthusiastic audience waiting for them.