Leisure Travel Market Expected to Reach $6.2 Trillion by 2033

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, leisure travel market size was valued at $1.2 trillion in 2023, and is projected to reach $6.2 trillion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 18.3% from 2024 to 2033.

Digitalization, informatization, and globalization upgrades in past few years have spurred the fast growth of the leisure travel industry. In today’s global economy tourism is now playing prominent role and taking a larger share in the economy, while bringing profound social impacts.

Outbound leisure travel has gained significant momentum at the start of 21st century as the result of a rise in disposable income, expansion of logistics & infrastructure, and rigorous promotion & advertising of tourism by governments. The outbound tourism market has expanded sprightly, as a result, the number of outbound tourists maintained robust growth each year from 2002 to 2018. The number of global outbound tourists surpassed a record 1.4 billion in 2018.

New trends have emerged due to the rapid development of global outbound tourism. Citizens' perceptions have changed from meeting everyday needs to improving the quality of their lives. Now more than ever, travel plays a vital importance in the hectic lifestyle of people. Leisure holidays remained the most preferable travel type, however, adventure tourism has gained wide traction in the past few years. 

Evidence of the evolving leisure travel market is emanating across regions whether developing or developed. Deployment of digital technologies including but not limited to artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, Internet of Things will continue to remain in cynosure for the rapidly developing industry and leisure travel market trends. 

The increasing advent of digitalization will continue to foster bringing paradigm shift in the leisure travel and tourism industry regarding how engaged stakeholders will reach out to tech-savvy customers is expected to create leisure travel market opportunities in the upcoming years.

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the leisure travel market, due to the travel restrictions across the globe in an attempt to prevent the pandemic spread. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimation, the global international tourist arrivals might decrease by 58–78% in 2020 depending on the speed of containment and the duration of travel restrictions as well as the shutdown of borders. In addition, the travel & tourism industry will suffer a loss of $910 billion to $1.2 trillion in export revenues from tourism in 2020, which is further expected to hamper the growth of the market. Moreover, according to UNWTO, the pandemic is likely to increase unemployment by putting around 100 to 120 million direct tourism jobs at risk, thereby restraining the growth of the leisure travel market.

Leisure travel market segmentation include type,  age group, expenditure type, sales channel, and region. The UK is on the verge of Brexit and no deal exit might have appalling ramifications on the outbound tourism market. According to leisure travel market analysis, a no-deal Brexit might cause a drop of about 5-7% in outbound travelers from the UK. Spain, France, and Italy would see a significant drop in tourists traveling from the UK owing to the weaker exchange rate, imposition of tariffs, higher airfare rates, and higher travel insurance premiums. A decrease in the value of British currency will result in changing UK resident's preferences for domestic holidays A no-deal scenario will result in increased overall expenditure incurred by UK residents. No deal exit will have a cascading effect on the UK economy, which will negatively impact the UK outbound tourism industry.

Key Findings Of The Study

• By traveler type, the group segment dominated the global market in 2023 and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period.
• By sales channel, the online channels segment accounted for the highest share in the leisure travel market growth in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 23.1% from 2024 to 2033.
• By age group, the Generation X segment led the global leisure travel market demand in 2023 and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period.
• By expenditure type, the lodging segment dominated the global market in 2023 and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period.
• By region, Asia-Pacific accounted for highest leisure travel market share in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.1%. 

The key players profiled in the report include Expedia Group, Priceline Group, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, JTB Americas Group, World Travel, Inc., American Express Travel, Travel Leaders Group, TUI Group., Thomas Cook (India) Limited and Cox & Kings Ltd.