Turneo, the London-based hospitality technology company helping hotels promote, book, and manage in-destination experiences, has released a new industry analysis to answer one of the hospitality sector’s most debated questions: Do experiences actually drive revenue, or are they just a nice-to-have?.

The study, which covers 122 hotel groups representing over 12.2 million rooms and $131 billion in annual revenue, reveals a clear answer.

Hotels that rank in the top tier of Turneo’s Experience Index - a benchmark measuring how well hotels integrate and promote experiences – achieve a 262% higher Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) on average than hotels with a low focus on experiences. The data also reveals that a 30% increase in guest bookings of experiences leads to a 55% uplift in RevPAR, confirming that investing in experiences directly impacts hotels’ bottom line.

But the real story goes beyond the metrics.

Today’s travellers increasingly view experiences as the heart of their hotel stay, not just an optional add-on. Guests recall the moments they kayak at sunrise, sip wine with a local producer, or join a city walking tour, not the room they stayed in. These memories shape how they feel about a hotel long after check-out and often determine whether they come back.

As guests increasingly plan their entire trip around the experiences they want to have, they choose hotels that make those experiences easy to discover and book. Turneo’s research shows that guests who engage in local experiences are not only more satisfied but also behave differently: they spend more, stay longer, and are 33% more likely to return, turning one great stay into lasting loyalty. For hotels, it’s a flywheel of revenue, reputation, and repeat business.

“This isn’t a trend - it’s a proven strategy. Experiences are now one of the strongest levers for core hotel revenue,” said Matija Marijan, CEO of Turneo. “Hotels that embrace this shift are outperforming their peers across every key metric: revenue, satisfaction, loyalty, and brand perception.”

To help hotels turn guest stays into memorable experiences, Turneo will continue developing tools that enable hotel groups, resorts, and boutique hotels to deliver unforgettable in-house and external experiences at scale - and translate them into measurable RevPAR growth.

To learn more about the research or measure the potential uplift for your hotel, you can visit the Experience Index or watch the Turneo’s podcast episode on experiences and hotel RevPAR growth.

Vist the full research here

Media Contact:

Matija Marijan, CEO @ Turneo

Turneo Ltd., 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom

matija@turneo.com