There is a clear new trend and shift in traveller behaviour, shaped by a growing desire for purposeful, experience-led itineraries.
Two of the most powerful forces driving this shift are sports and wellness. Sports tourism is exploding, estimated to be worth USD 707bn in 2025, it is set to more than double by 2032, jumping to over USD 2tn1. Wellness travel isn’t far behind, expected to surge from over USD 525bn to more than USD 910bn by 20302. These aren’t passing fads. There’s a fundamental shift in how people spend their time and money.
Priority Pass’ latest global research report, ‘From Stadiums to Spas: Unlocking the Explosive Growth of Sports and Wellness Travel’, surveyed over 12,000 travellers across 20 markets to reveal how sports and wellness are inspiring the next wave of travel, and in turn, experience-led journeys.
Key Findings
Nearly half (47%) travel for wellness, 20% for sport, and a third (33%) travel for both.
Younger people especially want to power down with more than a third (35%) booking wellness trips to ‘digitally detox’.
Nearly half (46%) of sports travellers say they are motivated to explore new cities through sports travel.
79% with travel benefits chose their payment card because of sports and wellness travel interests.
71% of those without travel benefits are interested in a card that supports sports or wellness travel.
Over a third (35%) with travel benefits are more likely to consider other products from the same issuing bank, compared to 19% of those without.
2 Research and Markets, Wellness Tourism Market - Forecasts from 2025 to 2030
