Why Live Tourism Is a Top Priority for Global Travel Investment

This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.

The traditional tourism funnel has been turned upside down as more consumers, especially younger generations, seek opportunities to “play” when they travel. To satisfy this demand for play, they’re looking for live tourism centered on entertainment, sports, and cultural experiences that are not defined by a particular place but rather a unique experience at a special time in an unforgettable space.

“Instead of choosing a destination first, younger travelers especially are now deciding what type of experiences they want to enjoy before selecting a location that offers those experiences,” said Ross McAuley, MD advisor and director general of Play Qiddiya City DMMO, at the 2025 Skift Megatrends event in London. “This shift [toward 'live tourism'] underscores a growing demand for destinations that offer immersive, authentic experiences that go beyond traditional sightseeing or ‘fly and flop’ travel.”

According to a research report from Skift and Qiddiya City, more than 90% of travelers aged 44 and younger agreed that participating in entertainment, sports, and cultural activities when they travel is important to their overall sense of happiness and well-being. More than 75% said that these types of play experiences have become more central to their travel plans in the past five years.

Millennials and Gen Z are projected to account for 83 percent of hotel guests by 2030, according to an LG Business Solutions report, and industry leaders investing in the future of travel are primarily focused on this generation of travelers.

Destinations like Qiddiya City — specifically designed as a world-class destination where play takes center stage — are fostering live tourism built around entertainment, sports, and culture to create mutually beneficial opportunities for all stakeholders in the travel business.

“The goal is to share experiences, because you will always remember how you feel,” Mehdi Hemici, chief loyalty officer at Accor, told Skift Research. “Rather than where you were or why you traveled, that emotional aspect once you've experienced it and shared it with your loved one, your children, your family member, your best friend, is ultimately the emotional connection that we're trying to establish.”

Sporting events, concerts, and unique cultural attractions have consistently inspired travel and raked in billions of tourism dollars annually. For instance, Global Market Insights estimated that sports tourism alone totaled more than $600 billion worldwide in 2024, a figure that is expected to double by 2032.

Skift reported that events such as FIFA’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar had 3.4 million fans, generating an event-record-breaking $5.8 billion, while Formula 1’s worldwide race circuit brought in 5.7 million attendees in 2022 — up 36% from 2019 — pushing revenues to $2.5 billion.

The economic impact of these experiences is often a catalyst for growth opportunities, but “investment should not be reliant on a single event,” Dmitri Cooray, Managing Director of Jetwing Hotels in Sri Lanka, told Skift. “You need to be able to sustain demand in the long term.”

According to Bloomberg, Qatar’s government spent more than $300 billion on infrastructure projects, including highway and airport expansions ahead of the World Cup, and hotel investment continued strong following the event, as reported by THP. For a single F1 event in Las Vegas — the first of a now-annual event in the city — roughly 145,000 visitors spent about $561 million. The Taylor Swift effect has been well-documented, generating over $1 billion in direct travel spending in the U.S. in 2023 alone.

Another case in point is Sydney, Australia. On a recent episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Pip Harrison, managing director of Tourism Australia, explained that the 2000 Sydney Olympics supercharged the economy by about 10 years, but not in the way one might think. The tourism bump drove more visitation in the two or three years following the event, a blueprint they're using again for the Summer Olympics coming back to Queensland and Brisbane in 2032.

“We look at sporting events as moments not just to fill the stadium; when the eyes of the world are on Australia for a particular event, we want to show up and showcase what there is to see and what there is to do outside of the stadium,” Harrison said.

Year-round attractions like those in Orlando, a destination built around play, highlight the value of consistent opportunities for visitation. According to Visit Orlando, the region’s 74 million visitors in 2023 contributed $58.5 billion to its community and generated a total economic impact of $92.5 billion — a 5.6% increase. “That's like hosting the Super Bowl nearly twice a week for a year,” the organization said.

Mike Waterman, currently president and CEO of Visit Anaheim, formerly worked with Visit Orlando and sees many similar opportunities in southern California.

“The beauty of [these destinations] is that every year as a DMO or CVB, we have new attractions, new events, new things to promote,” Waterman said on stage at the 2024 World Travel Market. “So whether you come every year or every two or three years, you are going to be able to experience something new.”

According to Skift and Qiddiya City research, 93% of travel executives agreed that destinations focused on offering entertainment, sports, and cultural activities will become more important in the global tourism landscape in the next five years. Furthermore, 84% of travel executives said that they are excited about investing in new destinations designed exclusively for entertainment, sports, and culture.

Tourism growth and development require thoughtfulness, especially as cities and regions with dense populations consider the positive economics of more visitation. Where well-tread places like Barcelona and Amsterdam are looking to stem challenges from overtourism, growth markets like the Middle East have an opportunity to be more thoughtful as they build anew.

For instance, Qiddiya City is rising from the ground up just 40 minutes from Riyadh, a metropolitan area with more than 7 million residents and an airport that saw 37.2 million passengers in 2024, a 16.6% increase from the year prior, according to travel retail publisher Moodie Davitt Report. These factors compel Qiddiya City's developers to think holistically about its appeal and approach.

Destinations focusing on play are more fundamentally inclusive and more economically diversified for investors since they’re catering to all types of demographics: sports fan bases, festival goers, thrill-seekers, art enthusiasts, and critically, a consistent flow of domestic travelers and local residents.

“While Qiddiya City isn’t a cure for all societal issues, it represents a new vision for urban living centered on sustainable lifestyles, fostering connections, and promoting well-being,” said McAuley. “We have tried to reimagine what cities can offer to enrich lives and communities. People are going to live here. It will be bigger [in area] than the city of Orlando and have over 500,000 residents. So as we build this master plan from nothing, it’s important that it’s universal and accessible, and everyone is welcome to come and play.”

Waterman agreed with this sentiment. OCVibe, a 100-acre, $4 billion “hub for a vibrant culture [and] a community connected through shared experiences,” undoubtedly aims to attract Disneyland tourists to extend their stays in southern California, but it’s being built primarily for residents.

“Play is different for everybody, and I think for us as marketers and DMO leaders, we have to understand what people want to see,” Waterman said. “And it varies by day, it varies by time of season. So it's [about having] this abundance of riches at our disposal, and if they build it right and do it authentically, we're going to make sure it’s as accessible as possible to both locals and out-of-town visitors.”

These lessons apply across the travel industry as global traveler demographics evolve and sentiments and behavior continue to change alongside them. Don’t be mistaken: Paris, London, and New York aren’t dropping off the list of top tourist arrivals any time soon.

However, smart travel executives seeking success in the next era of global tourism would be wise to diversify their growth by investing in destinations that are focused on live tourism and play, which foster seasonality-proof revenue opportunities, support authentic experiences, and build symbiotic relationships with the communities of which they’re a part.

“Play thrives on collaboration, and the travel industry is inherently collaborative, bringing people, ideas, and expertise together to craft immersive experiences that resonate deeply with travelers worldwide,” said McAuley. “At its core, this shared process of discussion, ideation, and creation embodies the essence of play: vibrant, dynamic, and filled with collective energy.”

Download the report from Skift and Qiddiya City for extensive research and deeper insights into the power of play and its impact on the future of global tourism.

This content was created collaboratively by Qiddiya City and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.