Research from YouGov on behalf of Priority Pass™, the world’s leading and original airport experience programme, has found that the trend for experience over material goods is global. Surveying over 1,016 people in Australia and more than 10,000 globally, the data shows that respondents in Australia all overwhelmingly value shared experiences – which manifests most clearly in the form of holidays.
Key Australia Currency of Experience Barometer
- Cultural holiday overseas
- Holidaying at home
- Go out for a meal
- Solo travel abroad
- Overseas city breaks and weekends away
- Wellness and spa holidays abroad
- Catching a film at the cinema
- Attending live events
- Sporting holidays overseas
- Pampering with beauty services
Travel tops the table
- 30 per cent of Australians enjoy taking cultural holiday overseas more than any other experience
- 44 per cent of Australians would enjoy their airport experience more with lounge access
- Only 2 per cent enjoy buying luxury items the most
Research found that 30 per cent of Australians in particular enjoy taking a cultural overseas abroad. This was further reflected in spending, with people splashing out an average spend of $1,731 a year on cultural trip abroad. This was more than any other activity and more than double what they spend on luxury items, which rung up an average of $657.
With regards to lounge access at an airport, Australians ranked this most highly across all of the countries that took part in this survey, showing the importance of airport lounges for Australians that travel.
Kevin Goldmintz, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific at Collinson, the operator of Priority Pass, commented that globalisation and increased competition in the travel industry had propelled consumer demand for domestic and international travel experiences.
“I have not been surprised by the rise of experiential travel and people want to travel better, on a deeper emotional level.” Kevin said. One of the biggest shifts has been the demand from travellers for a more personalised and customer centric experience, and they expect that experience starts even before they get to their holiday destination.
Kevin stated that this also involved increasing demand for exclusive airport lounge facilities, access to quality restaurants within the airport precinct and luxury services such as massage and gym facilities.”
Sharing experiences
- Eating out was the most popular activity in Australia (68 per cent)
- 51 per cent of Australians like going to the cinema
- 26 per cent of Australians share their leisure travel experiences on social media regularly (e.g. once a month)
Whilst holidays and travel are viewed very highly, they are not the only experiences we enjoy. Globally respondents’ valued going out to a restaurant for a meal as one of their most enjoyable experiences. After the US, Australia is the country least likely to rate a pretty venue or food highly. Holidays are not the only experiences they enjoy. 51 per cent of Australians said they like going to the cinema followed by 30 per cent attending live events while 24 per cent said they enjoy health and beauty services.
The results suggest that a shared social experience is key to people’s enjoyment, and the social media use also adds to the perception of value of an experience. For example, travel for leisure and a trip to the cinema are the activities that were most likely to post about on social media (26 per cent and 19 per cent respectively) compared to more solitary activities like a fitness session at the gym (11 per cent) or buying luxury items (7 per cent).
The Next Big Thing consumer futurist, William Higham, said: “People increasingly look for more ‘meaning’ in what they do, therefore possessions are proving less valuable than experiences, and the memories and learnings that we gain from them. And we’ll care more about status updates than status symbols. This will be encouraged by the growing importance of social media across all age groups, since experiences typically offer better opportunities to post photos and updates than products.”
Age really is just a number
- 18-24s and over 55s value cultural holiday overseas almost equally
- 18-24s were the most likely to enjoy overseas city breaks
- More than one-fifth (21 per cent ) enjoy solo travel abroad across the surveyed age group
Priority Pass’s research found that culture holiday overseas in particular, are valued across the board, 28 per cent of 25-34s and 35-44s and 26 per cent of 45-54 years old say going on cultural holiday abroad is their favourite activity compared to 34 per cent of 18-24year olds which is the highest percentage across the surveyed age groups. And when asked what they’d spend a $440 (£250) cash gift on, almost 31 per cent of Australian would put it towards a trip away, which is higher across the board globally
According to the results, 36 per cent of 18-24 year olds were most likely to enjoy overseas city breaks, more than a quarter of 25-34s (29 per cent) and over 55s (14 per cent) were fond of them too. While more than one-fifth (21 per cent) of people enjoy travelling alone, this was reflected in spending, with people splashing out an average of $1,422 a year. This was more than a double of what they spend on luxury items, which rung up an average of $660.
Kevin continued: “The statistics show that experience is definitely king. This tells how highly people value different experiences, especially those that can be shared. We are proud to play a part in this, our airport experiences offer people even more enjoyment from their time in airports, whether travelling for business or leisure.
“Consumer behaviour is changing. Those companies that are able to offer products and services which respond to the growing investment in the Currency of Experience, will reap the rewards when it comes to customer loyalty.”
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