Here Are Our 2026 Predictions
Strong opinions, loosely held—on where travel, culture, and the experiential economy are heading next.
We—and plenty of people we respect—have had a lot to say about 2026.
Maybe it’s because the post-pandemic years have finally caught up to us. Maybe it’s because the industry is entering a decisive moment that’s clarifying who it actually serves. Or maybe it’s because, according to the Chinese zodiac, we’re heading into the Year of the Fire Horse—a time associated with momentum, bold moves, and a renewed appetite for risk and reinvention.
Whatever the reason, it became clear pretty quickly that this year’s predictions couldn’t live in a single post.
So we broke them into four.
Here’s how we’re rolling them out:
Part I (this post): The macro shifts reshaping the experiential economy in 2026—from the backlash brewing around live events to how people gather, spend, and opt out
Part II: The destinations we think will trend in 2026, alongside the marketing dynamics and demand signals we expect travel brands (including agencies like ours) to contend with
Part III: Predictions from our close rolodex of friends and operators who know their shit and are deep in the work
Part IV: A vodcast recap from ILTM, connecting what we heard on the ground with the themes running through this entire report
This first post sets the foundation.
Here, we focus on the pressure points already shaping behavior—and where backlash, recalibration, and opportunity are starting to emerge. We dig into:
Why backlash is growing around live event pricing as access narrows and costs cross a psychological line
Why not everyone benefits from Africa’s ultra-luxury positioning—and why 2026 will force that reality into focus
Why women 55+ are becoming one of the most durable and influential growth segments in travel
How beauty-led businesses are stepping into the void left by disappearing third spaces, using high design to turn routine care into places people actually want to linger
Why art capitals are overtaking culinary capitals in how people choose where to travel
Why scent is emerging as a travel driver in its own right—shaping where people go, not just what they bring home
Why literary communities are turning reading into a reason to gather, travel, and build place-based rituals
We close with a fast, gut-check list of predictions—everything from whether Saudi Arabia will truly break out as a leisure destination, to why friction is back, baby, and how expert-led travel continues to outperform influencer-led everything.
We also know this upfront: we won’t get everything right. Predictions never do. The goal here isn’t certainty—it’s to push at the edges of what’s being discussed, stress-test assumptions, and surface frictions and trade-offs that feel underexamined.
To do that, we reviewed more than 35 industry prediction reports across travel, hospitality, luxury, and the broader experiential economy. Not to aggregate them—but to make sure we weren’t repeating the obvious. In some cases, that meant focusing on trends we felt weren’t getting enough attention. In others, it meant revisiting trends already in circulation, but challenging the prevailing framing rather than repeating it.
With that in mind, here’s where we think things are headed—and why it matters.
The Live Event Backlash
Everyone agrees that live events are increasingly driving a large segment of travel. The next chapter is a backlash.