What is experiential travel?
Experiential travel focuses on creating personal connections between travelers and the destinations they visit. It includes hands-on activities, cultural immersion with local communities, adventure travel, and experiences that engage the senses, emotions and intellect.
How is experiential travel different from traditional tourism?
Experiential tourism isn't about ticking off landmarks or visiting Instagram-famous spots. It's about taking part in authentic experiences, from cooking classes to off-the-beaten-path itineraries, tailored to individual interests rather than trends dictated by social media.
Experiential travelers seek genuine interactions with locals, traditions, and guided tours that transform their perspective. Unlike models like bleisure, wellness travel or sustainable tourism, the primary goal of experiential travel is the experience itself - its emotional and cultural depth, personal growth, and connection to the community.
While there's overlap with other tourism models, experiential travel emphasizes learning, skill-building, cultural engagement, and creating a positive impact on local communities. This trend is increasingly driven by millennials and Gen Z who travel with purpose, seeking memorable experiences beyond sunbathing on a beach.
Why experiential travel matters for hotels
- Increased guest satisfaction and loyalty: creating emotional connections during a stay makes guests more likely to return and recommend your hotel through word-of-mouth.
- Revenue potential: travel experiences like guided hikes, local tours, or cooking classes can be monetized as add-ons or packages.
- Competitive advantage: unique, local experiences help your property stand out in a saturated market.
- Marketing and PR opportunities: shareable experiences generate content that outperforms traditional campaigns across blogs, social media and influencer partnerships.
- Positive reviews and reputation: memorable experiences translate into better reviews and word-of-mouth referrals.
- Alignment with travel trends: modern travelers prioritize authentic experiences and user-generated content over conventional tourism - you can see this in gen Z travel trends.
5 ways hotels can deliver experiential travel
1. Partnering with local businesses
Collaborate with local artisans, chefs, tour guides, and local community groups to offer authentic experiences.
2. Curated local experiences in your hotel
Host wine tastings, workshops, food pairings or local crafts that reflect your region's culture.
3. Personalization through guest profiles
Use hotel management software to collect guest preferences and tailor room amenities, activity recommendations, or special services.
4. Celebrate local events
Align offerings with seasonal activities, festivals, and cultural celebrations to bring local culture into your hotel and increase on-site engagement.
5. Create immersive experiences
Incorporate local aesthetics, traditional materials, local staff, and design areas where guests can interact with the community to enrich the overall stay.
Experiential travel: 6 best practices for hotels
1. Collect and use guest data ethically
Guest data is a great way to personalize the guest experience, but it's important to always respect privacy and only use data for authorized purposes.
2. Train staff to anticipate guest needs
Anticipating guest needs is one of the ways to make the experience at your hotel special. Empower employees to suggest activities and tailor experiential activities based on guest interests, enhancing their stay.
3. Collaborate with local businesses
Strong partnerships with local businesses support authentic experiences and reinforce a sense of place while benefiting both your hotel and the community.
4. Curate local experiences thoughtfully
Ensure all activities are relevant to your guests and authentic. Partner with providers who share your hotel's values.
5. Use technology to improve operations
Platforms like Mews PMS let you create and manage hotel guest profiles, giving you the insights to tailor experiences and services more effectively. You can also streamline experience delivery, boost upsells and automate bookings or other parts of the guest journey. That way, your team spends less time on repetitive admin and more time focusing on what really matters - the guest experience.
6. Monitor feedback and make improvements
Collect guest reviews and survey data to refine offerings and ensure alignment with guest expectations.
Conclusion
Experiential travel is more than a trend - it's a shift in how people engage with destinations. Hotels that embrace immersive experiences can personalize stays, foster meaningful guest connections, boost loyalty and maintain a competitive edge. By combining thoughtful experiences with smart technology, you can create deeper, more memorable stays that guests will return for.
Experiential travel FAQs
1. Why is experiential travel on the rise?
Experiential travel is on the rise because travelers increasingly seek authentic connections with local culture, people and places. Social media, the internet and low-cost flights have made travel more accessible, but they have also raised expectations for deeper, meaningful experiences beyond sightseeing.
2. How can you leverage the experiential travel trend to attract guests and boost loyalty?
Hotels can leverage the experiential travel trend by offering personalized, immersive experiences and promoting them through websites, social media and booking platforms. Packages and add-on services tailored to guest interests help build loyalty and encourage repeat stays.
3. What are some examples of experiential travel activities?
Experiential travel activities include visiting a local farm, taking an art or cultural tour, guided nature walks, cooking classes or workshops with local artisans.
4. How can technology help deliver experiential travel?
Technology can help deliver experiential travel by enabling hotels to create and manage guest profiles, track preferences, and tailor experiences accordingly. Platforms like Mews PMS also streamline bookings, automate certain tasks and make it easier to upsell activities or services.
5. How can hotels measure the success of experiential travel offerings?
Hotels can measure the success of experiential travel offerings through guest feedback, repeat bookings, online reviews, social media engagement, and by tracking the sales and uptake of experiences.
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