Should you make your CEOs and employees "talent" for social media?
Consumer, Travel, and Experiential Economy Trends to Pay Attention to This Week
Hello Everyone! Welcome to our new Substack, The Business of Experiences. This is our first post. To learn more about why we started it and who we are, please go here.
Now on to the good stuff…
Twice a month, we cover emerging trends at the intersection of the experiential economy, tech, and consumer behavior. While not every update directly impacts the experiential economy, each reflects shifts in consumer behavior and technology that influence these verticals. Our goal is to challenge your perspective, inspire new ideas for your business, and keep you ahead in today’s fast-evolving landscape.
This week’s roundup covers:
The rise of AI tools in travel planning
The success small businesses are finding by making their owners, CEOs and employees talent for social media
How a major legacy travel brand is tapping into the growing trend of women-only tours.
Plus some other fun general travel recommendations and tidbits that you can use to impress someone at some point, including 7AM group sauna and cold plunge sessions in NYC’s Flatiron district. :)
Backroads Launches Women Only Adventures: Backroads, a leading adventure tour company established in 1979, has officially launched Women’s Adventures in response to a surge in bookings from women-only groups. Recent data underscores this trend: women are traveling solo or in groups at twice the rate of men, with over half of U.S. women taking vacations without a partner. Search interest in "female solo traveler" has jumped by 62% in three years, and women now make up 75% of travelers seeking adventure, cultural, or nature experiences. We predict more travel companies will follow suit as they recognize the immense purchasing power and demand for unique experiences among women—ignoring this trend would mean leaving serious money on the table.
Consumers Crave Real Connections, So Mom and Pop Shops are Turning Owners and Employees into Social Media Stars: With highly produced social media content losing its appeal, brands are adapting by spotlighting their own owners and employees as relatable online personalities. As social media strategist Tiffany Morgan explains, “It’s so hard to get people to follow a business. People typically want to follow other people, so it’s reaching that human element and doing that through humor and laughter.” This shift resonates with a larger trend highlighted by Eater: polished, overly curated visuals are giving way to DIY, “laissez-faire” aesthetics, where food and experiences look messy, real, and personal. By leaning into authenticity, brands are reaching new audiences and building loyalty through relatable content. If you want a real example of this, check out the City of Boise’s TikTok account—some people are even calling it the real-life Parks and Rec. And I have to shout out my friend’s plumbing company in Seattle; he makes the cutest and most engaging videos visiting his clients, who happen to be some of the best restaurants in the city, where he has a meal and shares what he loves about them.
Legacy Travel Brands Can Take Inspiration from a 178-Year-Old Magazine’s Approach to Staying Relevant: As brands increasingly lean on employees as talent [mentioned above], Town & Country has tapped into this approach through its Editor-in-Chief, Stellene Volandes. Volandes embodies the brand’s lifestyle, sharing personal experiences from high-profile events like Fashion Week, which allows audiences to connect on a deeper level. By “living the brand,” she bridges traditional print with digital engagement, keeping the brand relevant, personal, fresh, and modern. Legacy travel brands could draw inspiration from this model to foster loyalty and community in a fast-evolving market. Katalina wrote about this in more detail here on why travel brands should focus on aligning with trusted cultural curators and ambassadors, and why they should immediately hire a creative director to stay relevant.
Growing Number of Travel Apps Make Accessibility a Priority for Travelers with Disabilities, Including Google Maps: New apps are transforming the travel experience for people with disabilities, addressing a range of accessibility needs from mobility support to sensory aids. AccessibleGO, for instance, helps users book accommodations with roll-in showers and accessible outdoor spaces, while Be My Eyes offers visual assistance via AI for those who are visually impaired. The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Program discreetly signals non-visible impairments with a lanyard for airport staff, and even Google Maps now includes features like wheelchair-accessible routes, screen readers, and voice guidance to improve navigation. These tools represent a shift toward more inclusive travel options, showing that accessibility is no longer an afterthought in travel tech.
With Claude’s Latest Release, We Are One Step Closer to the Autonomous AI Travel Advisor: Anthropic's new "computer use" feature for Claude AI marks a significant advance toward a fully autonomous AI travel assistant. With the ability to manipulate desktop environments as a human user would, Claude can now manage tasks like scrolling, clicking, and typing on behalf of travelers, automating critical parts of the planning process. Picture an AI that can search multiple booking sites, compare flights, and reserve hotels based on personal preferences—all while notifying users of any discounts or deals. Beyond reservations, Claude could check in for flights, monitor weather or travel alerts, and even gather local recommendations, creating a seamless, customized travel experience with minimal user involvement.
New ChatGPT Search Engine Signals Shift in Travel Planning—How Advisors Can Stay Ahead: OpenAI just launched a new search engine designed to improve shopping and travel search reasoning. For travel advisors and agencies who currently spend hours researching itineraries online, this is a sign of what's coming: in a few years, AI may be able to handle bookings directly for users. However, if you’re an advisor with expertise and connections beyond what’s available online, that’s your lasting advantage. Focus on visiting the destinations you promote, refining your niche, and expanding industry relationships—invest in knowledge and connections that AI can’t replicate.
Google Maps' New AI-Powered Features Are Starting to Transform Travel Planning: Google Maps recently reached over 2 billion monthly users worldwide and has introduced a suite of new AI-powered features to "transform how you navigate and explore the world." The latest updates include conversational AI for travel recommendations, allowing U.S. users to ask for suggestions on nearby restaurants, bars, and attractions, and receive curated lists with reviews gathered over the years, giving historical context to each recommendation.
It’s Like Burning Man Meets the Pyramids of Giza: Now in its fourth edition, Art D’Égypte’s Forever is Now festival transforms the Pyramids of Giza with breathtaking, site-specific sculptures by artists like Chris Levine and Ik-Joong Kang. This year’s event is particularly special, featuring Asian artists for the first time and creating new cross-cultural connections. Merging ancient history with contemporary art, this is one of the coolest activations we have seen.
For Fun
Katalina
I am in NYC this week speaking at TripCon and I have this at top of my list:
Sip on a smoky cigarette martini at Tigre.
Book an appointment at this newly opened spa in Soho that’s already racked up over 130 five-star reviews on Google. The interior design is unlike anything I’ve seen—a blend of Japanese Ryokan, Italian resort vibes, and ’90s Calvin Klein–style minimalism, as described by the owner.
7AM group sauna and cold plunge session at Othership in Flatiron.
Kelley
Things I’ll be doing and getting up to this week in London:
Sauna, plunge, repeat x4 this week at 1Rebel — nervous system will be in terminator mode by Friday. All it took was one icy dive into Lake Michigan with Sauna Club last winter to convert me.
On Thursday Paul Housley's new solo exhibition opens at Cedric Bardawil with an after party at the Groucho, so I'll head there to see if it’s still worthy of its hedonistic hype. Nothing says a night of high-low culture like a members’ club after party and swirls of paint exploring the decline of arts education.