{"id":275296,"date":"2025-10-03T19:13:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T19:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/275296\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T19:13:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T19:13:12","slug":"travel-trends-that-drive-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/275296\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Trends That Drive Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skift\u2019s Chief Research Officer Seth Borko says live event tourism is a generational megatrend\u2014and it\u2019s forcing brands to rethink everything from loyalty redemptions to AI-powered service and discovery. The two of us visited at Skift\u2019s<\/a> signature NYC global event recently and I followed up to confirm key learnings.<\/p>\n

\"157\"<\/p>\n

Seth Borko, Head of Research at the Skift Global Forum in NYC (2025)<\/p>\n

SkiftThe Moment You Book The Ticket Before The Trip<\/p>\n

For decades, trip planning followed a neat, more linear order: pick a destination, buy the flight, choose a hotel, then figure out what to do. That funnel is flipping. More travelers\u2014especially Gen Z <\/a>and Millennials\u2014start with the experience: a music festival, rivalry game, F1 weekend, once-in-a-lifetime celestial event, or headline residency. The destination becomes a byproduct of the moment.<\/p>\n

Experiences are part of the growth of Live Event Tourism.<\/p>\n

TFL<\/p>\n

Skift\u2019s research team calls live event tourism a megatrend. Their market sizing pegs the global live events universe\u2014sports, concerts, festivals, venues\u2014at roughly $2.9 to $3.0 trillion in total tourism impact. In surveys across ten countries, about 20% of travelers said they\u2019ve taken a trip primarily for a live event. Among younger cohorts (18\u201344), intent spikes significantly higher. <\/p>\n

Why it matters: live events<\/a> compress demand. Cities see peak occupancy, premium ADRs, extended stays, and spillover spend in dining and retail. Airlines test seasonal lift. Local brands ride the halo. And for loyalty programs, these moments are catnip\u2014high emotion, high shareability, and (done right) high stickiness.<\/p>\n

AI Isn\u2019t A Gadget\u2014It\u2019s The New Travel Infrastructure<\/p>\n

Borko\u2019s other message: AI <\/a>is moving from curiosity to expectation. In Skift\u2019s U.S. traveler survey, those \u201cextensively\u201d using ChatGPT-style tools for trip planning jumped from 13% in 2024 to 30% in 2025. When asked if AI would influence provider choice, 33% said \u201cmuch more likely\u201d and 29% \u201csomewhat more likely.\u201d That\u2019s a majority voting for smarter experiences.<\/p>\n

Inside the industry, adoption is uneven. About 22% of travel executives report scaled generative AI across multiple functions\u2014but just ~2% say the same for agentic AI (systems that take multi-step actions on your behalf). Expect the first big wins in the operational trenches: automated room assignments, proactive rebooking during IRROPs, FAQ deflection, and \u201csmart delays\u201d communication. These use cases reduce burnout, lift margins, and let frontline staff focus on guest care instead of middleware work. Moments that matter become more achievable when administrative tasks are reduced.<\/p>\n

On the demand side, AI is already the place travelers discover and decide. Brands that surface the right offer, in the right context, with the fewest taps, will win the next booking\u2014and the one after.<\/p>\n

Live Tourism + AI: A New Planning Flywheel<\/p>\n

Put the trends together and a practical playbook emerges:<\/p>\n