Rise of Luxury Experiences: Why Travelers Are Choosing Memories Over Material Goods

Luxury growth is shifting from ownership of high-end goods toward travel, hospitality, wellness and other experiences that deliver discovery, personal enrichment and well-being.

• The global luxury travel market reached approximately $1.6 trillion in 2025, with revenues above pre-pandemic levels and expected high-single-digit growth for the foreseeable future.
• Companies exposed to luxury travel, hospitality and wellness have significantly outperformed the broader luxury sector over the past two years, according to the article’s chart.
• Viking Holdings grew revenue by nearly 22% in 2025 to $6.5 billion while maintaining occupancy of around 95%; it plans to add 27 river ships by 2028 and 10 ocean ships by 2031.
• Hilton operates more than 500 luxury properties, while Marriott has nearly 1.8 million rooms worldwide and over 600,000 rooms in its development pipeline.
• OneSpaWorld operates more than 200 wellness centres, serves over 28 million cruise guests annually, controls more than 90% of the outsourced maritime wellness market and generated approximately $961 million of revenue in 2025.

Takeaway: Investors should focus on companies positioned for premium travel, personalised hospitality and wellness, although the article presents these securities for illustration rather than as investment recommendations.