3 Trends Defining Destination Tourism in 2026 and Beyond

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

In light of a global rise in experiential travel, Qiddiya City offers an important contextual framework: the power of play. According to research by Skift and Qiddiya City, over 70% of travelers said play has become more central to their travel plans in the past five years. And despite the lighthearted nature of this guiding principle, play is also a proven economic and cultural driver. 

Qiddiya City’s holistic focus on sports, entertainment, and culture in a livable, interconnected city caters to travelers around the world who increasingly see travel as an opportunity to live their values and demonstrate their identities, driven by a hunger for once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Within Saudi Arabia itself, Qiddiya City supports widespread efforts to diversify economic, social, and cultural impact as part of Vision 2030.

SkiftX spoke with Ross McAuley, MD Advisor and Director General, Play Qiddiya City DMMO, who explained how the world’s first city built for play is at the forefront of major industry trends heading into 2026, taking inspiration from younger travelers’ focus on experiences, prioritizing mobility that makes an experience ecosystem possible, and positioning the destination as the linchpin of truly connected trips.

Younger Travelers Are Shaping Future-Focused Cities

The influence that younger, experience-driven travelers are exerting across the travel industry is becoming increasingly apparent. Millennials and Gen Z now drive the majority of travel and leisure spending worldwide and are expected to account for 80% of hotel guests by 2030, according to a report by LG Business Solutions. In Saudi Arabia, the average age is just 29 years old, and more than 70% of the population is under 35. 

That growing impact has inspired Qiddiya City to keep this younger cohort of travelers top of mind. The city is “growing up” as part of that same generation: “Younger travelers are really at the heart of our positioning because the city is going to be 20 years in the making,” McAuley said. “It’ll be 40 years old by the time we’ve completely scaled.” 

Building Qiddiya City for a youthful audience means understanding travel as an expression of identity. Live tourism is a particularly important driver for younger travelers today, as this cohort explicitly seeks out opportunities to play. According to research by Skift and Qiddiya City, 70% of travelers agreed that in the last five years, they have become more likely to plan a trip around entertainment, sports, and cultural experiences. Even more importantly, 86% of travelers agreed that participating in those experiences when they travel is important to their overall sense of happiness and well-being. 

That’s why instead of focusing on sightseeing trips, Qiddiya City is leaning into experiences that encourage play and give travelers a sense of community and purpose. “It’s less about passive visiting and more about being somewhere you belong,” McAuley said. “It could be Formula 1 or tennis, football or anime, you name it, you belong here.”

This inclusive approach fuels Qiddiya City’s plans to create an ecosystem of experiences, rather than a list of distinct attractions. Over time, the city will unveil a wide range of opportunities that run the gamut from Six Flags Qiddiya City theme park to elite golf courses and esports arenas to wellness retreats. The variety helps Qiddiya City cater to younger travelers of all kinds — while some millennials might be adventure-seeking singles, others more often plan multigenerational trips for the whole family.

“We’re designing around the human need to play, which is a universal behavior that transcends borders or nationalities or generations or income levels,” McAuley said.

Seamless, Tech-Enabled Mobility Enhances Experiences

In addition to variety, proximity is another element that helps satisfy experience-driven travelers of all ages, backgrounds, and income levels. “Sports, entertainment, and culture are fantastic of their own volition, but the really interesting thing is the concentration of having so many different things going on in one place,” McAuley said. 

This proximity allows travelers who plan a visit around one type of event or experience to stumble upon something else that interests them on the same trip. Those unexpected connections embody exactly the kind of spontaneous play that Qiddiya City is looking to foster.

Practically speaking, mobility is key to ensuring travelers are exposed to this wealth of concentrated experiences. Pedestrian-focused, car-free districts underpin the design of Qiddiya City, creating a truly walkable city, the likes of which is still quite uncommon in the Middle East. 

Investment in public transportation options, like trains, trams, and park-and-ride buses is increasing micromobility within Qiddiya City. “We want 80% of resident journeys to take place on public transit,” McAuley said. In addition to reducing traffic and modern dependence on cars, these accessibility strategies help protect the resident experience from being disrupted every time an influx of fans arrives for a particular event. 

All of these developments are supported by technology-driven infrastructure that puts Qiddiya City at the forefront of innovation. On the road to building a fully smart city, Qiddiya has already begun implementing real-time data and AI tools for utility management, crowd flow, and traffic and safety concerns, for example. Down the line, a planned Qiddiya City app will give residents and visitors alike instantaneous access to the most up-to-date information for wherever they’re located at the time.

These tech-enabled mobility developments enhance the visitor experience while also enabling seamless travel itineraries. Even the most exciting, adventure-filled itinerary won’t make for a meaningful trip if it’s too difficult for visitors to get from one activity to another. Qiddiya City views mobility infrastructure as more than just physical assets and strategies for moving people from place to place — rather, it’s an important piece of emotional architecture that supports memorable experiences. 

Destinations Are Key Partners in Personalization 

No matter how seamlessly connected a city is designed to be, trip planning is still a complex, interwoven journey that spans multiple travel suppliers and experience providers. Travelers often have to deal with countless fragmented systems to build an itinerary, bouncing between confusing package deals and juggling an endless stream of middlemen. 

In Qiddiya City, the destination itself is arising as a unifying force toward the truly connected trip. “That’s where the DMMO can play a coordinating role,” McAuley said. 

As traveler expectations evolve, personalization is no longer a luxury; it’s the expected standard. And destinations play a crucial role in crafting memorable, meaningful experiences that match travelers’ needs and inspire repeat visits. 

Positioning destinations as the central hub makes collaborative itineraries possible for travelers, while also helping suppliers develop a more detailed and contextualized understanding of their customers. At the same time, integrated CRM and data platforms allow destinations to curate personalized recommendations for each traveler, instead of redirecting visitors to a barrage of other websites. 

This empowers the DMMO to respond directly to real-time visitor data, enhancing the visitor experience when it counts most: while it’s still happening. “Partnerships between the destination and operators encourage the co-creation of these experiences, underpinned by data-driven insights,” McAuley said. “The more we evolve, the more people visit, the more we learn about what people want to do.”

In that respect, Qiddiya City will soon be able to suggest increasingly personalized itineraries based on the length of stay, traveler interests, demographics, and more. Qiddiya City’s ability to suggest the right trip for the right traveler will set a new benchmark in destination intelligence and guest satisfaction.

With tailored itineraries in hand, visitors will be able to dive right into enjoying more meaningful experiences that align with their interests, lifestyles, and travel goals. McAuley believes that spending less time scrolling through endless options means more time getting excited about an upcoming trip.

“The pleasure in a family vacation is not actually the vacation,” McAuley said. “It’s the months leading up to it, where you’re sitting around the dinner table saying, ‘Wow, check this out. That would be amazing. Let’s do that.’ Getting there should be the cherry on top.”

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

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