Travel’s third-largest sector is entering its defining decade

In-destination experiences are no longer “the next big opportunity.” They are expanding at scale. After absorbing the deepest pandemic shock of any major travel segment, tours, activities and attractions have rebounded beyond pre-COVID levels and are now growing faster than the broader travel industry. Phocuswright and Arival’s latest research report, The Outlook for Travel Experiences 2019–2029, sizes the sector at $271 billion in 2025 and projects it will exceed $340 billion by 2029, driven by rising per-trip spend, Asia’s acceleration and steady gains in online distribution.

The data tells a powerful story:

Experiences reached $271 billion in 2025, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and outpacing overall travel growth The sector is projected to grow at an 8% nominal CAGR from 2023–2029, compared with 5% for travel overall Online share is projected to climb from 17% of bookings in 2019 to 42% by 2029 OTAs are the fastest-growing channel, with gross bookings expected to increase more than fivefold from 2019 to 2029 Yet just 33% of bookings were online in 2025, versus 64% for the global travel industry

The opportunity is clear. The challenge is scale. Fragmentation, operational complexity and uneven digitization continue to limit profitability. The next phase of growth will depend on whether operators and platforms can convert complexity into durable, technology-enabled infrastructure.

The strategic questions we answer:

How is the sector evolving from recovery to sustained expansion? Which regions and categories are gaining momentum? How quickly is distribution shifting online and what does that mean for operators, OTAs and direct channels? What structural challenges still constrain scale and margins? How will AI-driven discovery, dynamic pricing and agent-enabled commerce reshape distribution power?

Phocuswright powers the travel industry’s smartest decisions. Discover the insights that bring clarity to complexity and support confident, forward-looking strategy. Read the Research Insights article and explore the full findings. Tags: Phocuswright  Arival  research