Luxury Travel Statistics 2026: Market & Trends

Last reviewed 7 September 2026. Every figure on this page was checked against the source named next to it; where market-size estimates use different definitions, the definition is stated.

Luxury travel is growing faster than almost any other part of tourism. McKinsey & Company values the core luxury tourism and hospitality segment at $239 billion in 2023 and forecasts it will reach $391 billion by 2028, while Skift Research estimates luxury travellers account for roughly 36% of global travel spending (2024). Behind the boom sits a record 25.3 million high-net-worth individuals worldwide at the end of 2025, record private jet activity and the largest luxury hotel construction pipeline ever measured.

A note on definitions

Three market-size figures circulate for "luxury travel", and they measure different things. McKinsey counts a core segment: travellers who typically spend more than $500 a night on a hotel room. Grand View Research and Fortune Business Insights count the whole premium market, including upscale flights, cruises and tours, which is why their totals are six to ten times larger. This page uses McKinsey's core figure as the headline and gives the broader estimates for context, always with the publisher and year.

Key luxury travel statistics

The core luxury tourism and hospitality market was worth $239 billion in 2023 and is forecast to reach $391 billion by 2028 (McKinsey & Company, 2024).
Luxury travellers account for around 36% of global travel spending (Skift Research, 2024).
Broader definitions put the market far higher: Grand View Research values it at $1.6 trillion in 2025, rising to $3.04 trillion by 2033; Fortune Business Insights at $2.72 trillion in 2025, rising to $4.83 trillion by 2032.
The world's high-net-worth population reached a record 25.3 million people holding $98.3 trillion at the end of 2025 (Capgemini, World Wealth Report 2026).
Global private jet departures hit an all-time record of 3,878,336 in 2025, up 4.6% year on year (WingX).
The luxury cruise fleet has more than tripled, from 28 ships in 2010 to 98 ships in 2025 (CLIA, 2025).
The global luxury hotel construction pipeline reached a record 1,328 projects and 252,544 rooms at the end of 2025 (Lodging Econometrics, Q4 2025).

How big is the luxury travel market?

McKinsey, which defines a luxury traveller as someone who typically spends over $500 per night on a hotel room, sized the segment at $239 billion in 2023 with a forecast of $391 billion by 2028, faster growth than any other travel segment (McKinsey, 2024).

For context, total global travel spending was about $8.6 trillion in 2024, roughly 9% of global GDP (McKinsey, 2025).

McKinsey puts luxury travel growth at about 6% a year, two percentage points ahead of the broader travel sector, with the fastest growth in North America (12% CAGR, 2015–2025), Asia (8%) and the Middle East (6%) (McKinsey, 2025).

Wider definitions that include premium products produce much larger totals. Grand View Research values the global luxury travel market at $1.6 trillion in 2025 and projects $3.04 trillion by 2033 (8.5% CAGR, 2026–2033). Fortune Business Insights values it at $2.72 trillion in 2025 and projects $4.83 trillion by 2032 (8.56% CAGR); on its 2024 base year, North America held 32.64% of the market and Europe 29.47%.

At the top end, trips to the world's ten most expensive destinations (Africa, Antarctica and the islands of Oceania led the list) cost American travellers an average of about $16,000 per person in 2024, 3.4 times the average trip (Squaremouth, November 2024).

Who is the luxury traveller?

The wealth base is expanding fast. Capgemini's World Wealth Report counted 23.4 million high-net-worth individuals holding $90.5 trillion at the end of 2024, rising to 25.3 million and $98.3 trillion at the end of 2025, with the ultra-wealthy ($30 million and above) population up 9.4% to around 250,000 (Capgemini, World Wealth Reports 2025 and 2026).

Luxury travel is no longer only for millionaires: 35% of luxury-travel spending comes from travellers with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million, an "aspirational" segment that is younger and willing to spend a growing share of its wealth on upscale trips (McKinsey, 2024).

Around 80% of luxury leisure travellers are under 60, with spending peaking between the ages of 40 and 50 (McKinsey, 2024).

Younger generations are driving the experiential shift: 74% of Millennials and Gen Z call travel "non-negotiable", and 83% say they prioritise unique, authentic experiences over popular tourist attractions (American Express, 2026 Global Travel Trends Report; survey of about 7,000 travellers in seven countries, fieldwork December 2025 to January 2026).

An estimated $83.5 trillion in wealth is set to pass to Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z by 2048, reshaping the future luxury customer base (Capgemini, World Wealth Report 2025).

Luxury hotels: record pipeline, premium rates

The global luxury hotel construction pipeline hit an all-time high of 1,328 projects (252,544 rooms) at the end of Q4 2025, up 8% by projects and 4% by rooms year on year, within a record total pipeline of 15,922 projects (Lodging Econometrics, February 2026).

The US luxury pipeline also set a record at 95 projects and 22,045 rooms in Q4 2025 (Lodging Econometrics, via Hotel Dive).

Asia dominates future supply: in McKinsey's 2023 assessment of the global luxury-hotel pipeline, 41% of upcoming luxury hotel rooms were in Asia, and 43% of those in China (McKinsey, 2025).

Rates at the very top keep climbing. CoStar found the ten most expensive Paris hotels achieved an average daily rate of about $2,600 in 2025, well over double the $922 ADR of the average luxury-class hotel in the city (CoStar, November 2025).

In the US, high-income households kept travelling through 2024's slowdown, benefiting upscale-to-luxury hotels while economy tiers softened; in the week of 13–19 October 2024, luxury hotels led all segments with 11% RevPAR growth on a 7.7% ADR increase (STR Weekly Insights).

Private aviation demand

Global private jet departures reached a record 3,878,336 in 2025, up 4.6% on 2024 and beating the previous record of 3,763,935 set in 2022 (WingX full-year data, January 2026).

2025 activity was 34% above pre-pandemic 2019 (2,893,517 departures): the post-Covid private aviation surge has become a durable structural shift.

The United States accounted for 67.9% of global activity with 2,633,282 departures in 2025, up 5% year on year (WingX).

Growth in 2025 was fastest in emerging markets: departures rose about 11% in Latin America and 15% in Africa, with Asia up 4% and the Middle East up 7%, while Europe was flat at +1% (WingX, January 2026).

Luxury and expedition cruising

Global ocean cruise passengers hit a record 37.2 million in 2025, up from 34.6 million in 2024 and 31.7 million in 2023 (CLIA, State of the Cruise Industry Report 2026).

The luxury cruise fleet has more than tripled in 15 years, from 28 ships in 2010 to 98 in 2025, and 1.7 million travellers are forecast to choose a luxury cruise by 2029, about 4% of a projected 42.1 million passengers that year (CLIA, 2025).

Expedition and exploration cruising is the fastest-growing niche: passenger numbers rose 22% in 2024, and global expedition capacity is set to grow 150% between 2019 and 2029 including ships on order (CLIA, State of the Cruise Industry Report 2025).

Cruise tourism generated $198 billion in global economic impact in 2024, supporting 1.8 million jobs (CLIA, 2026).

Top luxury destinations and 2026 trends

Virtuoso's 2026 Luxe Report, surveying more than 2,400 luxury travel advisors, ranks Italy as the world's No. 1 luxury destination with Japan just behind. Italy, Japan and Greece recur across the family and honeymoon lists; the top cities are Paris, Tokyo, Barcelona, Kyoto and Rome, and Iceland leads the emerging destinations (Virtuoso, November 2025).

Two of those countries are perennial Tripplo favourites: see our data deep-dives on Greece tourism statistics and France tourism statistics for the visitor numbers behind the rankings.

67% of advisors expect travel demand to rise in 2026, 55% predict clients will spend at least modestly more per trip, and 45% report more requests for ultraluxe travel (Virtuoso, 2025).

Climate is now shaping itineraries: 45% of advisors say clients are adjusting plans because of climate change, and of those, 76% are shifting to shoulder-season or off-peak travel (Virtuoso, 2025).

Experiences beat things: 82% of Millennials and Gen Z say learning a new skill makes a trip more memorable than passive sightseeing, and 91% are interested in unconventional stays, led by luxury rail (45%) (American Express, 2026).

Luxury hotspots built on high-end hospitality keep breaking records too: our Dubai tourism statistics guide tracks one of the world's fastest-growing five-star destinations.

Luxury Travel Statistics 2026: Market Size, Spending & Trends

A note on definitions

Key luxury travel statistics

How big is the luxury travel market?

Who is the luxury traveller?

Luxury hotels: record pipeline, premium rates

Private aviation demand

Luxury and expedition cruising

Top luxury destinations and 2026 trends

Sources

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