by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:10 PM ET, Wed July 22, 2026
Hit especially hard by the COVID pandemic, the experiences sector of the travel industry has returned to pre-pandemic levels of business, growing faster than much of the rest of the industry.
A new report from Phocuswright shows that bookings in the global experiences market reached pre-pandemic levels in 2024 with $253 billion in transactions and that figure was expected to be even higher for 2025.
“Today's travelers show increasing signs that they do not want to visit a destination just to sit by a pool or a beach. Relaxing vacations are now those that include purposeful quantities of tours, activities and attractions that enhance the travel itinerary,” says a new report from travel, tourism and hospitality market research firm Phocuswright.
While experiences may still have more ground to cover when it comes to technological advancement and distribution, it seems consumers are increasingly showing signs that they appreciate the experiential part of travel.
A new study higlights how dangerous it can be for travelers to take a selfie. (Photo Credit: Courtesy AdobeStock)
Demand for experiences picks up steam
In 2024, the experiences industry grew by 17%, while the rest of the travel industry only recorded 6% growth. Heading into 2025, however, growth of the experiences industry leveled off and is expected to remain more even in 2026 and beyond.
This reality varied by region, as North America lagged in growth due to drops in tourism and softening domestic demand, according to Phocuswright.
Spending remains flat
While it’s good news that the experiences sector is growing so briskly, the amount of money being spent by travelers on such activities has not seen significant growth in recent years.
Among U.S. travelers, spending on experiences has remained relatively even and in the case of European travelers, spending has declined.
"This could be a reflection of travelers being more careful with their spending because of economic strain or a preference for maintaining the number of experiences over doing fewer, more expensive ones,” explains the Phocuswright report.
Today’s travelers are seeking meaningful experiences that bring them closer together. (Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/WineDonuts)
Most popular types of experiences
So what sorts of experiences are travelers most interested in these days? That too varies based on where travelers are from, says Phocuswright.
The most common types of experiences for Europeans were cultural sites or landmarks (47%), sightseeing tours (43%) or museums (38%). Spa or wellness activities were far more common among Europeans (33%) compared to Americans (23%).
Sightseeing tours were also popular for U.S. travelers (42%). Americans also had outsized preferences for culinary tours or classes (40%) but did not engage in as many cultural site or landmark visitations (40%) even though they remained a popular choice.
It’s also worth noting that travelers are often booking multiple experiences within a given trip, ranging from tours to attractions and culinary experiences.
This however, varies based on where travelers are from: U.S. travelers had more average experiences than Europeans across categories, despite having shorter average trip lengths of 7.1 nights compared with 8.3 nights for European travelers.
Sightseeing experiences are the most popular across the board, selected by 42% of American travelers and 43% of European travelers. Culinary tours or classes rank second with 40% of American travelers and 32% of European travelers opting for this type of experience.
Additional popular experience choices include visiting cultural sites or landmarks, natural attractions, festivals, museums, concerts and sporting events. Rounding out the most common experience options are zoos and aquarium, local host experiences; spas, wellness and yoga; thematic tours or experiences, immersive experiences and visiting observation decks.
How experiences are being booked
While technology has permeated nearly every area of life, it seems the experiences industry is something of a holdout.
Other travel segments have already experienced a significant migration of inventory to online distribution, but parts of the experience sector continue to often rely upon offline channels. Only 33% of experiences were estimated to have been booked online in 2025, compared to 64% of the travel market overall.
This remains true despite the growth of specialized experience marketplaces like Viator, GetYourGuide or general OTAs integrating more experiences inventory.
“Several factors make the digitization of experiences more complex than that of other verticals,” explains the Phocuswright report.
Those factors include supply of experience offerings being fragmented and often ultra-local, along with the experiences industry lacking “a set of leading major players that have streamlined the move to online in sectors such as air, hotel or cruise.” More than 70% of experience operators are small or micro-businesses and recruiting these businesses for online distribution has proven challenging.
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