THE FUTURE OF GLOBAL TRAVEL
MORE TRIPS,
RICHER EXPERIENCES
Post Pandemic Travel in 2023
In the face of changing economic landscape, post pandemic preferences for experiences over things in a consistent demand for leisure travel shape travel outlook for 2023 and beyond.
Tourists continue to prioritize experiences. Preferences for experiences over things persists, and travelers are demonstrating new demand for the unique. Potentially influenced by social media and entertainment, travelers are lending lesser-known destinations in search of cultural immersion. As of March 2023, global spending on experiences was up 65% while spending on material things was up by 12% compared to 2019. "Experiences" includes tourists spending money at restaurants, recreation activities, nightclub, bars, and other events.
TRAVELERS PREFER UNIQUE,
AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCES...
Experiential Tourism on the Rise!
Experiential tourism is hot right now! Travelers want once-in-a-lifetime adventures. They want to get on the same level as the locals and many want to experience the luxury lives of celebrities. That's why many travelers prefer non-traditional accommodations, so they can explore their destination with different lens. In fact, 74% of travelers opted for vacation rentals versus hotels.
MULTI GENERATIONAL TRAVEL
Baby Boomers and Gen X
Baby Boomers, the retirement-age generation, and Gen Xers, the forgotten generation, are surging back to traveling post pandemic and are taking advantage of opportunities to explore the world and tick off their bucket list. Confident and adventurous, Baby Boomer travelers often spare no expense when it comes to experiencing destinations of their dreams, making them the highest spending generation in the industry with an estimated $157 billion spent on travel each year. Gen Xers travel less but spend more on their vacations.
Both generations are prioritizing small group intimate travel and dream vacations. They find travel inspiration through word of mouth and plan to have big trips in the future.
THE YOUNGER GENERATIONS
Millennials and Gen Z
Millennials are the group that travel the most because they don't mind mixing work with vacation. They are the center of the "bleisure" trend, which is when a traveler adds a day or two of leisure vacation to their business trips and because they grew up tech-forward -- they are online and the driving force behind the "work from anywhere" philosophy.
Gen Zers are made up of people born between 1996 and 2009 and they are starting to enter the workforce yet this generation of young travelers are leading the way. They prioritize adventure travel and don't mind staying in cheap accommodations. Their trips are heavily influenced by social media and are bucket-list oriented.
