The way people approach travel in 2025 is shifting dramatically. According to Scott Wegener, Head of Asia Pacific at Tripadvisor, who gave the opening keynote at ITB India 2025, today’s travelers are no longer seeking renowned locations or rushed itineraries. Instead, they are seeking immersive experiences that connect them with local cultures, traditions, and communities.
Wegener described this change as a move from “I was there” to “I was changed there.”
“Leisure travel is no longer about just buying holidays, flights, hotel stays. It’s about seeking journeys,” Wegener said. “Experiential travel is about slow travel, forging connections with people, and truly understanding a place’s essence.”
He explained that experiential travel is now the industry’s defining trend, with four key fundamentals:
- Personalization – Travelers curate journeys around their passions, from pottery in Jaipur to cricket in Melbourne or wildlife treks in Sri Lanka.
- Authenticity – Genuine cultural encounters matter more than staged photo ops. Visitors want real rituals, real people, real culture.
- Local Interaction – From joining festivals and chatting over chai to volunteering for community projects, engagement with locals is essential.
- Sensory Immersion – Travel now engages all five senses: tasting street food in Mumbai, hearing folk music in Jaipur, inhaling the spice markets of Delhi, or touching handmade crafts in Kolkata.
This transformation positions travel as a postcard for the soul—a search for meaning, belonging, and memory-making. Travelers aren’t just collecting places anymore; they’re collecting moments that change how they see the world.
