The Fast-Growing Experience Economy and The High Stakes of Luxury Adventures

The bucket list of the wealthy: Seeing the Titanic, traveling to space and walking on Mars. What else you gonna do with all that money? Recent events might have them thinking twice.

The missing OceanGate vessel has highlighted the dangers of seeking adventures on the fringe of the earth — but also the fast-growing experience economy.

Consumers want experiences, not things. A 2019 Momentum Worldwide survey showed that 76% of consumers would rather spend money on experiences — not material items — a 200% increase from 2012.

• Except regular experiences aren’t enough to satisfy the ultra-wealthy — who have access to the ends of the earth.
• So they’re turning to extreme expeditions, which come with much higher risks.

Continent Elevation hopping

Luxury adventure-travel is a small but fast-growing market that has opened difficult-to-access parts of the world, per River Oaks Travel Concierge’s director of operations (WSJ).

Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ:LIND), a provider of adventure travel experiences, saw its 2022 revenue exceed pre-COVID levels by 23%. The company utilizes its partnership with National Geographic to provide unique travel experiences.

• This year, Nepal issued a record number of permits to 463 climbers, where overcrowding is a danger.
• Last year, adventure policy sales booked on Squaremouth were up 28% from 2019 — already up another 46% this year from the year previous.

3.7K miles beneath the surface not enough? Try 50 miles above the ground.

Countdown to space: Remember meme stock Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE)? Richard Branson’s space tourism company’s first flight is scheduled to launch between June 27 and 30 — followed by monthly trips. Nearly 800 people have signed up, some at the initial ticket price of $200K — but buying a ticket now will cost you $450K.

Question for Elon: What’s the ETA on Tourism Mars travel?