Modern travellers today are not travelling for the destination!

77% of Gen Z travellers¹ reported favouring purpose-driven experiences that match their personal interests and passions. Does this fundamentally mean that traditional sightseeing packages at popular tourist hotspots are moving aside for distinct niches? In a way, yes! Travellers still want a highly personalised experience while on the trip, but they also want it to be unique and social media-worthy.

This fundamental change has sparked rapid growth in various trends to cater to specific lifestyle choices.

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Sports, Music, Wellness Tourism - What's the Next Big Niche?

The rise of sports tourism

The sports tourism market is forecasted to grow 18.20% from US $709.7 billion in 2023 to US $2,704.3 in 2032. Key drivers for the growth include rising disposable income, obesity rates, and fitness preferences among the younger population².

What’s popular in the market? Favourite sporting events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup attract millions of fans worldwide following each match, both online and offline, every season.

According to TGM Research, 59% of their surveyed respondents actively engage with the most watched sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, in various forms, from viewing and listening to following updates using social media³.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 brought to the hosted country, Qatar, estimated tourism spending and broadcasting revenue of US $2.3-4.1 billion. This translates to US $1.6-2.4 billion (or 0.7-1.0 per cent) to Qatar’s GDP in terms of gross value added⁴.

In addition to a significant economic boost, sports tourism also provides countries with plenty of benefits, from creating new job opportunities and developing infrastructure to obtaining global exposure from top-tier sponsors like Nike, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc.

These popular international events attract massive crowds and provide plenty of golden opportunities for both the host nation and its neighbouring countries. As more governments plan to allocate funds towards sports infrastructure and the merging of thriving middle classes, sports tourism is poised to remain a viable industry.

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Music tourism takes centre stage

Just like how sports tourism witnesses exponential growth year after year, so does music tourism. In fact, it is an incredible way to achieve the goal of “immersing in a unique cultural experience” that many travellers aim for. Music tourism offers a perfect blend of enjoying good music from your favourite artists and exploring the life, culture, and food scene at the destination.

And no, they don’t limit their attendance to Coachella or Tomorrowland. Music tourism is a booming industry and can feature a wide range of genres. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour, Wicked the Musical, etc. are the megahits that attract thousands of attendees and millions of followers across various platforms.

From global sounds

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stands out as a remarkable success story in music tourism that shows its massive economic power. The tour has successfully grossed US $1 billion thus far, with the average dollar amount a Swiftie spent on the tour is US $1,327.74.⁶

The tour’s impacts:

The local economy across the US and countries where her concerts were held, to the point that her name was used to describe a phenomenon with macroeconomic implications—the “Swiftonomy”.

The hospitality industry generated an extra US $100 million in restaurant sales in the US alone⁷.

Rising “funflation” occurred as local businesses leveraged the event to introduce various Swift-themed activities and merchandise, which quickly ran out of stock⁸.

Swiftonomy does not impact the host city. It is also lucrative for the surrounding local economies. A notable example would be Air New Zealand adding more than 2,000 seats for flights from Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland to Melbourne and Sydney around Swift’s tour date in Australia to cater to the “Swift surge”⁹.

To local thrills

Though North America and Europe remain in their leading positions of being tourist hotspots for these types of events, Asia-Pacific, particularly Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, recently also received their fair share of attention from international artists when considering venues for their next gigs.

In just the past three years alone, Vietnam has welcomed A-listers from K-pop sensational girl group Blackpink to view-counting vocalist Charlie Puth and childhood heartthrobs Westlife.

During Blackpink’s Born Pink first-ever concert in Hanoi, Vietnam, the city witnessed a flood of 170,000 visitors, including 30,000 international tourists, leading to US $13.660.064 revenue and a 20% increase in hotel occupancy rate during the two-day event increased by 20%¹⁰.

With its exquisite natural landscapes, beautiful long beaches, and unbeatable hospitality, Vietnam is a potential destination for music tourism, catering for both international and local music lovers.

For instance, the two biggest reality music shows in 2024, Anh Trai Vượt Ngàn Chông Gai and Anh Trai Say Hi, each have hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook and sold a total of at least 80,000 concert tickets as the finale for the show. Their second concert scheduled for December this year has sold out all tier tickets within 60 minutes of being available for sale.

Supported by numerous artists, their fans, and local communities, music tourism is undoubtedly a rising trend that is unlikely to fade anytime soon.

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Wellness tourism: The next frontier

While yoga retreats have nothing to do with dental surgeries, many still confuse wellness with medical tourism or use both terms interchangeably. These two serve separate target audiences with vastly different demands.

Wellness tourism today has grown beyond traditional spa treatments or the resort vicinity and more into achieving a holistic experience for both the mind and the body amidst the unwell and convoluted world we live in. Wellness travellers want unique experiences that blend well with the natural landscape and local healing customs, or simply to be more nutrition-conscious and have better sleep quality.

Wellness tourism: The next frontier

Source: Global Wellness Institute¹¹

The market shows impressive growth in regions that develop authentic wellness experiences based on local traditions. Industry forecasts suggest wellness tourism spending will keep its strong momentum.

Don’t believe that wellness tourism is a billion-dollar industry? Check out the graph below from Global Wellness Institute.

Wellness tourism: The next frontier

Guests have intricate wellbeing demands, which brings countless streams of opportunities for hospitality service providers to explore and offer more bespoke spa, nutrition, fitness, and sleep services to accommodate this niche market.

The rapid growth of health and wellness technology mirrors the rise of wellness tourism. For instance, Accor’s Fairmont Windsor Park Hotel is the home to the UK’s very first spa multi-person cryotherapy chamber. Hotels Pullman Paris Centre-Bercy and Pullman San Francisco Bay, on the other hand, provide guests with a wearable device that monitors their breathing, brain waves, heart rate, and sleeping patterns¹².

Technology shapes wellness tourism’s future in powerful ways. Guest data obtained from smartwatches and fitness apps has allowed hotels and resorts to create customised packages.

The industry has moved away from simple pampering holidays toward more sophisticated, pilgrim-ish journeys. Wellness travellers are expected to rise. Hoteliers need to understand more deeply what wellness covers to accommodate these special guests.

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Other emerging niche tourism trends

New travel niches have altered the map of traditional tourism with their impressive growth and unique appeal. These specialised sectors now serve travellers with different priorities in exciting ways.

Ancestry tourism

Ancestry tourism, or heritage travel, is a niche tourism trend initially favoured by amateur genealogists (and the wider public today), who are interested in tracing their family lineage. As a result, they travel to their genealogical roots to reconnect with families or to understand their family histories.

The trend ballooned outside the genealogy realm, partly thanks to social media, influencers, and websites like Ancestry.com and 23andMe. These websites provide accessible and affordable DNA testing services, allowing consumers to get to know the details of their origins.

An Airbnb poll conducted in 2019 revealed that 500% more people globally have traced their roots since 2014; the firm said it was collaborating with 23andMe, the DNA testing business, to satisfy this demand by providing journeys to customers’ ancestral homelands. Ancestry, the creators of the family-search website, has teamed with a travel firm.

Space tourism

Ah, space travel! We finally live long enough to witness the epitome of technological advancements and human capabilities!

A very selected number of individuals bought passes to Russia’s Mir station or the ISS. But NASA cancelled any more chances with the space shuttle mission ending in 2011. With the rise of private spaceflight businesses run by top billionaires, notably Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, space travel is no longer a dream.

However, the race towards obtaining a space ticket is extremely fierce, as not only do you have to compete against the ultra-rich class but also the government.

Still, as technology keeps on advancing by the hour, the future is looking bright for passengers in the economy seat. After all, the results we achieved today are already worthy of Neil Armstrong’s saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Gastro-tourism

Culinary, food, or gastro-tourism is a trend that certainly excites many travellers regardless of age. Experiences and attractions connected to food have lately also attracted more and more importance.

Examples of culinary tourism can be defined as visits to food producers, food festivals, restaurants and specific locations where the taste of food and/ or experience of the specificity of typical food products are the main reasons for the trip.

Participating in cooking courses and/ or trips to businesses that produce traditional products (this is, for example, the case for wine tourism, which increasingly tends to combine tastings, training courses and visits to wineries and wine firms) enriches this kind of travel.

For many locations, food and wine production define their history and character and have grown to be the main component of the national brand image. Gastronomy tourism offers a chance to revitalise and diversify travel, support local businesses, engage many other professional sectors, and provide the main industry with fresh purposes.

Gastronomy tourism thus helps preserve local customs and diversity, promote brand locations, and maximise and gratify authenticity.

Online booking has revolutionised food tourism. Travellers now prefer digital channels to plan their culinary adventures. This change makes food experiences more available to everyone and helps showcase each destination’s unique flavours.

These new tourism trends show how travellers’ priorities have changed. People want deeper connections with the places they visit through unique experiences. The soaring success of these sectors proves that the tourism industry knows how to adapt to what travellers need. This creates lasting economic opportunities for destinations worldwide.

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Sources:

1. https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/state-of-travel-survey-2024

2. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/sports-tourism-market-16078#:~:text=Sports%20Tourism%20Market%20Size%20was,period%20(2023%20%2D%202032).

3. https://tgmresearch.com/most-followed-sporting-events-demographics.html

4. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2024/044/article-A002-en.xml

5. https://www.custommarketinsights.com/report/music-tourism-market/

6. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/06/08/2684710/0/en/Generating-5-billion-the-Taylor-Swift-The-Eras-Tour-has-an-Economic-Impact-Greater-than-50-Countries.html

7. https://robbreport.com/food-drink/dining/taylor-swift-eras-tour-restaurant-sales-1235502365/

8. https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/list-taylor-swift-themed-events-help-fans-shake-it-off-in-style-seattle/281-f09f7c25-d86d-4fd5-b998-c84243824926

9. https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/press-release-2023-swifties-assemble-air-new-zealand-adding-new-flights-to-get-fans-across-the-ditch

10. https://en.nhandan.vn/new-opportunities-for-music-tourism-post140000.html

11. https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/2024-global-wellness-economy-monitor/

12. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/wellness-travel-rewilding-yoga-pilgrimages

Sports, Music, Wellness Tourism – What’s the Next Big Niche?

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