There needs to be a marked shift in how the travel industry markets experiences after a post-pandemic recovery has begun to slow.
These were remarks made by Douglas Quinby, CEO of travel firm Arival, in the opening sessions of ITB Berlin 2025. Quinby said that while the experiences segment of the market had recovered after Covid-19 in regard to revenue, the same could not be said in relation to bookings.
This, Quinby said, was due to the impact of inflation. Despite this, growth is set to grow again this year—despite the threat of tariffs and trade wars arising from the new US Administration.
Quinby also said that travellers, for the first time since the pandemic, had started to partake in fewer experiences per trip. Still, he added that the sector was set to grow by 7% in 2025, nearly double the 4% predicted for the travel industry overall.
He said: “Historically, it’s always been the big, classic, and iconic attractions that have driven the most experiences. That’s what has driven travellers to a destination.”
To make this point, Quinby said that 0.004% of destinations accounted for around 48% of travel reviews, indicating that there is an apex set of experiences that many travellers aim for. This has caused some local governments and administrations to begin pushing back on tourism, attempting to stem some of the numbers travelling to a destination.
He added: “The demand to see the most-famous and iconic attractions is endless. We see this with places like Amsterdam and Athens, where the locals there are trying to find ways to LOWER the amount of people going to them. That in itself is a challenge for the tourism industry.”
Overall, he said, the experiences segment is more immune to the ravages of AI than other parts.
Quinby said: “When it comes to experiences, you’re selling a moment. You’re giving them an interaction with people. They’re getting that fundamental human experience. That’s what I think makes this exceptionally insulated from the impact of AI. But where we are seeing movement is when this tech is employed in the background for things like shopping, payments, bookings, and pickups. That where it has the chance to make an experience into an exceptional one.”
