Tours and activities: A market on the move

The global travel activities market – the amount travelers spend in destination while traveling – includes tours, attractions, events, activities (excluding dining and shopping) and transportation. This segment represented 10% of the global travel market in 2016, a larger share than either the rail, car rental and cruise segments (see figure below).

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Tours, activities and attractions represent 70% of the global travel activities segment, with the remainder including sporting events, performing arts and ground transportation. Both the global travel activities market, and the tours and activities sub-category are growing faster than the overall travel industry. Steady advances over the next several years will take the worldwide travel activities market to US$183 billion by 2020.

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This paper, drawing on key travel research and insights from Phocuswright's Tours & Activities Come of Age: Global Travel Activities Marketplace 2014-2020 and supported by Arival, explores the state of the tours and activities segment. We shed light on the massive in-destination activities opportunity; reveal key challenges the segment faces; outline how technology is fundamentally reshaping the tours and activities distribution landscape; and explain why, though online bookings clearly represent the future for tours and activities, not all online booking platforms are created equal.

Want more insights?

Attend The Phocuswright Conference, held November 13-15 in Los Angeles this year, to hear from travel activities leaders who are transforming the segment that's been attracting a slew of hot investments and acquisitions and what it means for the travel ecosystem. Learn more about the session here. Register early for the best ticket pricing.