Travel in an Age of Poly-Crisis

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Travel spending proves resilient despite poly-crisis pressures

Consumers prioritise travel over everyday luxuries, sometimes trading down on everyday goods to preserve their ability to take trips. Travel expenditure rebounded fully by 2025 and outpaces GDP growth, signalling a fundamental shift where experiences represent attainable luxuries worth protecting.

Experiences drive value growth across all segments

Consumers spend more per trip when travel delivers meaningful engagement and moments of delight beyond basic transportation and accommodation. Events, curated local experiences and passion-driven travel generate disproportionate value, with spending on experiences expected to grow faster than other in-destination categories.

Share of wallet remains stable but faces mounting constraints

While travel's share of consumer expenditure holds steady compared to retail, total discretionary spend faces pressure from rising cost-of-living essentials such as housing and utilities. Growth potential exists but is not limitless, requiring operators to communicate value effectively given an increasingly constrained wallet.

Geopolitical challenges reshape flows towards regional corridors

Poly-crisis disrupts traditional tourism patterns, creating barriers to long-haul travel while accelerating intra-regional growth. APAC intra-regional spending is expected to increase 57% over 2025-2030, for example, with new corridors emerging across Southeast Asia as destinations diversify away from dependency on traditional source markets.

Digital infrastructure becomes essential competitive differentiator

Seamless, AI-powered experiences have evolved from novelty to necessity as consumers expect unified journeys across booking, travel and post-trip touchpoints. Operators investing in real-time support, predictive assistance and continuous engagement platforms position themselves as lifestyle companions rather than transactional services.