The State of the Experiences Industry in 2025: Chaos, Convergence & Commercial Opportunity

If 2023 was about recovery, and 2024 was about recalibration, then 2025 is the year the experiences industry explodes.

Forget the old clichés. Experiences are no longer the "add-on" or "ancillary."They are the main event — shaping how people travel, connect, and spend.

Welcome to the Experience Economy 3.0 — where digital meets destination, and where expectation is everything.

The Big Shifts We’re Seeing

1. Travel is now personal, purposeful, and premium.People are spending more — but they’re spending smarter. From solo sabbaticals to ‘last chance’ bucket list adventures, the demand for meaningful moments is off the charts. Mass is out. Curated is in.

2. AI isn’t the future. It’s the filter.2025’s travellers aren’t searching — they’re being served. AI tools are curating end-to-end trips, and the winners in this space will be those with clean data, clear value, and killer content that can be surfaced anywhere, anytime, in any format.

3. Tech platforms are battling for the “last mile”Everyone from fintechs to OTAs wants in on the experiences space. Embedded travel is gaining traction — whether it’s booking a kayak from your banking app, or scoring local deals from your airline’s loyalty wallet. Expect tighter integrations, smarter UX, and fiercer fights for customer ownership.

4. Loyalty is being redefinedIt’s not about points anymore — it’s about emotional gravity.The experiences sector is perfectly placed to help airlines, retailers, and transport networks mean more to their customers. Not just transact with them.

5. B2B is where the real growth lies behind the scenes, the infrastructure is finally catching up. From ticketing APIs to inventory middleware, the platforms powering this space are growing up — and fast. The challenge? Connecting supply and demand in a way that makes sense commercially.

So What Does This Mean for Operators, Destinations & Tech Brands?

It means the rules have changed. And so has the game.

Whether you’re a museum trying to monetise your moments, a DMO looking to attract high-value visitors, or a tour company sitting on gold-dust inventory with zero distribution — 2025 is the year to level up.

But you’ll need to move fast.

The market’s consolidating. Consumer behaviours are evolving. New entrants are rewriting the script. And attention is the most valuable currency there is.

Where Kintras Comes In

We’re not just watching these shifts — we’re shaping them.

At Kintras, we help brands across the experiences, tourism, travel tech and loyalty space punch harder, partner smarter, and scale faster.

We do this by bringing commercial clarity, brand firepower, and real operator experience to the table — whether you're pre-launch or PE-backed.

From global partnerships to fractional C-suite leadership, our mission is simple:Make experiences the most powerful growth lever in your business.

💥 Want to talk trends, strategy or a no-fluff audit of where you sit in this new world?

Drop us a line: hello@kintras.com