Recent data from Mabrian has shown a significant ten percentage point increase in experiential traveler activities over the past four years, surpassing traditional ones like arts and culture, sunbathing, family, shopping, and nightlife. These activities include wellness, active and lifestyle, nature, and food and cuisine.
In contrast to June 2019, when only arts and culture and sunbathing accounted for 41% of travel motivations, as of June 2023, the proportion of experiential motivations has nearly reached a balanced 50/50 distribution, according to the same source, SchengenVisaInfo.com.
In this context, Carlos Cendra, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer at Mabrian, emphasized that the dynamics of travel are always changing.
She asserts that there is a change toward desiring detachment and engaging in activities that place a high value on forging deep connections with both our external environment and our inner selves.
She added, “There is an evident pandemic impact and the effect of being quarantined that made us realize how vital it is to appreciate the outdoors and feel well and healthy during our spare time, and that realization has lingered in travelers’ motivations.
The survey also reveals that, out of all the activities, Active & Lifestyle, Nature, and Wellness have had the biggest development over the past several years, reaching high levels of interest.
With relation to the first two in particular, there has been an apparent turning point since 2021 in line with the pandemic’s effects on these travel motivations. Welfare has also showed consistent rise since 2019.
However, traditional pursuits like art, culture, and sunbathing, which now only account for 34% of travel objectives, have seen a dramatic fall in their significance. The research indicates that this is a drop of seven percentage points from 2019.
Additionally, Mabrian claimed that it used Social Listening to compile this research, which involved observing the instinctive tendencies and behaviors of travelers from around the world. According to the authorities, this method uses Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, notably Natural Language Processing techniques, to analyze and interpret more than 400 million interactions on social media platforms that are specifically connected to tourism.
The article says that in addition to Marriot International and Qatar Tourism presenting their perspectives on this subject, “the results of this study were presented during the webinar organized by AVIAREPS titled Changing traveler behavior and trends.”
It was also mentioned that this thorough investigation included the entire observed time period, which ran from the first half of 2019 to the first half of 2023.
