According to Phocuswright’s joint travel research report with Arival — The Outlook for Travel Experiences 2019-2025 — travel experiences represented USD 253 billion in global gross ticket revenue in 2019, making it the third-largest sector of tourism after transportation and accommodation.
Tours, activities and attractions (TAA) was the hardest-hit area of travel during the pandemic but has bounced back largely due to shifts in traveler behavior. Post-pandemic changes in shopping and booking behavior have fueled the growth of the TAA industry.
Eugene Ko, director of marketing and communications at Phocuswright, said: “As we look ahead to 2023, travelers are placing more of a focus on experiences and once-in-a-lifetime activities. They want to make up for time lost during the pandemic, seeing and experiencing as much as possible on their trips. While recovery across regions and segments is uneven, we believe TAA will be one of the biggest success stories of 2023.”
The report has revealed that operator websites will continue to grow through to 2025, while offline direct bookings will regain some share in 2022-23. But OTAs are the fastest-growing channel, with gross bookings increasing from just under USD 8 billion in 2019 to nearly USD 20 billion by 2025.
