The shopping tourism market involves travel primarily for shopping purposes across both domestic and international borders. Tourists look for unique shopping experiences where they can explore local markets and find distinctive souvenirs, artisanal products, and fashion items. Shoppingtourism offers the advantage of discovering hidden gems and experiencing different cultures through their shopping avenues and retail therapy. Personalized travel experiences enabled by advanced technologies are making tourism more experiential and convenient, thereby driving interest in shopping tourism.
The Global shopping tourism market is estimated to be valued at US$ 497.97 Bn in 2024 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 9.3% over the forecast period from 2024 to 2031.
Key Takeaways
Key players: Key players operating in the shopping tourism market include Japan Deluxe Tours, Trafalgar Tours, EF Educational Tours, The Shopping Sherpa, Luxury Escapes, Costco Travel, AAA Vacations, Travel + Leisure, Context Travel, Intrepid Travel, Tauck Tours, Backroads, Country Walkers, G Adventures, World Expeditions, AdventureSmith Explorations, Esquire Travel, and Abercrombie & Kent.
Key opportunities: Rising demand for exclusive experiences is fueling the emergence of specialized boutique tours and packages tailored to niche shopping interests like fashion, Shopping Tourism Market Trends artisanal goods, flea markets etc. Growth in social media is also helping micro-influencers promote lesser known shopping destinations.
Technological advancements: Personalization technologies are enabling more immersive and customized shopping tourism experiences through features like virtual tours, personalized itineraries, augmented reality guided tours, real-time translation, cashless payments etc. This is attracting younger digital-savvy travelers.
Market Drivers
Growth in global tourism: The overall growth of the global tourism industry is translating to increased spending on shopping activities while traveling. According to the World Tourism Organization, international tourist arrivals are projected to double from 1.5 billion in 2020 to 1 billion in 2030.
Increasing income levels: Rising disposable incomes in emerging markets like China, India, Latin America are giving consumers greater budget and inclination for overseas shopping trips and experiences. This is benefitting shopping destinations worldwide.
Current Challenges in Shopping Tourism Market
The shopping tourism market is currently facing many challenges. With increasing prices of fuels worldwide, the costs of transportation have increased significantly. This has reduced the disposable incomes of people for leisure activities like shopping tours. Additionally, pandemic related travel restrictions over the past years have disrupted the normal flow of international travelers. Many destinations still havetesting and vaccination requirements in place that discourage travel. Changing consumer preferences also pose a challenge as people are spending more time online for shopping rather than visiting stores. Sustainability has also become a major issue due to increased carbon footprint of air travel which is commonly used for shopping trips.
SWOT Analysis
Strength: Shopping is a major motivation for many international trips. Destinations with duty-free shopping and unique products have competitive advantage.
Weakness: Higher costs of transportation due to fuel prices. Dependence on discretionary spending makes it vulnerable to economic downturns.
Opportunity: Emergence of digital nomads and remote working is allowing people extended trips. Popularity of experience based tours can boost shopping tourism.
Threats: Substitution threat from rise of e-commerce and online shopping channels. Natural calamities and health pandemics threaten tourism dependent economies.
Geographical Regions
In terms of value, the shopping tourism market is currently concentrated in North America and Western Europe. Countries like the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany accounted for over 60% of the global market revenue in 2024. The large affluent population and strong retail industries in these regions attract significant international shoppers.
Fastest Growing Region
Currently, the Asia Pacific region is witnessing the fastest growth in the shopping tourism market. Countries like China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand have emerged as popular shopping destinations in recent years. Rising disposable incomes, rapid urbanization and globalization of brands are fueling the demand. Strong economic growth along with initiatives to promote duty-free shopping are projected to help Asia Pacific outpace other regions in terms of market expansion during the forecast period.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it.
