Scrap Sightseeing: The Rise of Intentional Travel

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Scrap Sightseeing: The Rise of Intentional Travel

November 12, 2025

Travelers today seek more than landmarks and sights, craving experiences that reveal the hearts and souls of places they visit. According to the 2025 Hilton Travel Trends Report, global travelers want to slow down, take their time, and immerse themselves, with 73% of those surveyed by the hotel group across 13 countries seeking "authentic, local experiences," and 74% prioritizing recommendations from locals.

Along the same line, Christina Bennett, a consumer travel expert with Priceline, characterized 2025 as"the year of intentional travel," with vacationers hot for bespoke experiences rather than tourist attractions. As she told USA Today: "It's about really experiencing a new culture, getting to know the locals, and forging new connections."

Anna Jablonowski of FINN Travel Frankfurtconcurs: "People want to dive into culture and experience things as locals do. Sightseeing and chilling out aren't enough for a lot of travelers anymore, so hotels and travel operators are getting creative with programming that teaches things that are native to destinations." She points, for instance, to the S.A.L.T.(Sea And Land Taste) excursion program of Silversea, which, working together with local culinary experts, offers select shore excursions for guests to experience food culture and taste sensations, such as spending a day sharpening cooking techniques with one of Norway's famous chefs, making pastry at an authentic Sicilian Pasticceria, or touring vineyards in Wales.

The payoffs of experiential authenticity can go well beyond seeing, doing, and boosting Instagram views. Travelers passionate about sustainability, for instance, might reap rewards from operators such as Intrepid Travel, which has been offering group travel focused on benefitting "people and planet" since 1989. Among Intrepid's more than 900 multi-day itineraries are new summer-friendly, limited-edition "Active-ism"trips that will visit some of the world's most iconic landmarks. The unique, immersive experiences are created in response to recent executive actions that have resulted in mass dismissals and proposed budget cuts for the U.S. National Park Service.

Coming Home Abroad

In the Asia-Pacific region, experiential, intentional travelis on the rise as members of diasporic communities that long ago departed China for Southeast Asia in search of economic opportunities are now returning to discover where their forebearers came from. While various travel operators are involved, a lot of the travel is carried out independently as people tap social platforms such as Xiaohongshu - aka RedNote - to guide them to dining, accommodation, and cultural attributes of the destinations they visit.

Agung S. Ongko of RICE, a FINN Partners Company based in APAC, traces such travel to the "deeply personal intentions" of those looking to dig up their roots. Ongko points, for instance, to Singaporeans who are curating personal itineraries to places such as Lasem, a small town in Central Java, Indonesia, that was settled by the Chinese from as early as the 13thcentury and is famed for Batik, a textile tie-dye art that merges Javanese and Chinese motifs into stunning cloth designs. "I've been struck by the number of Singaporeans, a very urbanized populace, who travel to places like Lasem to relearn Batik techniques that have been passed down through generations. It's a way of reconnecting with their own heritage and its rich mix of migratory influences."

Whatever the destination, creativity is key to making experiential travel click. Earlier this year, Condé Nast Travelercalled out unique hotel collaborations that offer guests "insight into other worlds" while reinforcing what the properties stand for. The safari outfit Singita, for instance, was noted for underlining its commitment to African wilderness with an exclusive collection of printed dresses by South African LVMH Young Designer Prize winner Thebe Magugu that depicted a mother and child from nine African cultures, available only in boutiques of select Singita properties in Kruger National Park. Also noted was Hotel Le Grand Mazarinin the unfailingly fashionable 4tharrondissement of Paris, which has been making windows available as canvases for local artists, such as Héléna Soubeyrand, "a contemporary artist on the rise," whose installation can be viewed through the summer season.

"Providing a sense of place isn't a new idea in hospitality," shares Gregory Cole of FINN Luxe EMEA, "But in repeat-visitor hotspots, it has never mattered more; by curating a window onto the neighborhood, hotels can feed guests' wanderlust and set themselves apart from look-alike alternatives."

Travelers seeking surroundings a tad less eclectic can shoot - literally and figuratively - for experiential adventure at accommodations such as The Torridon, located along Loch Torridon on the west coast of Scotland. The family-owned boutique hotel built as a hunting lodge by the first Earl of Lovelace in the late 1800s invites guests to live the life of a laird with activities such as falconry, clay pigeon shooting, and sipping from the masterful collection of 365 different whiskies from the Whisky Bar. There are also custom itineraries for everything from stargazing to sea kayaking, and wildlife watching to guide-led mountaineering.

The Mindset of a Temporary Local

Big hospitality brands in major cities are satisfying experiential desires their own way. Since last summer, Local by Loews Hotelshas been plugging guests into the unique characteristics of the neighborhoods around Loews properties via connections with "passionate makers, talented vendors, inspiring artisans." At Loews Ventana Canyon Resortin Tucson, Arizona, guests can "window walk" onsite on a half-mile-long nature trail, where more than 200 signs showcase native plants and wildlife of the region, as well as join an exclusive complimentary stargazing experience led by the University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter- perfect for the birthplace of the dark-sky movement.

A trailblazer of immersive, culture-rich travel is the People-to-Peopleprogram, an award-winning initiative administered by the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation of The Bahamasthat links travelers interested in experiencing the authentic joys of local life in the island nation with locals who are excited to open their lives and homes and share their own. Launched in December 1975 and celebrating its 50thanniversary this year, People-to-People taps the generosity and enthusiasm of 500 volunteer Ambassadors to invite travelers to share in local activities: farming, fishing, gardening, water sporting, worshipping, cooking, and more, available and dotted through the archipelago's 16 Out Islands.

Among People-to-People Ambassadors promoted by the Ministry are Stephen and Terry Bellot, who regularly invite travelers into their residence in Nassau to build cross-cultural relationships over home cooking and conversation. There's also Mrs. Beverly Wallace-Whitfield, dubbed a Member of the Royal Victoria Order by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who has been engaged in the program since its start and can recount and rejoice in the number of travelers who have experienced The Bahamas through this immersive lens.

"Sharing a meal in the host's home, surrounded by tradition and warmth, made it clear People-to-People is one of the most powerful ways to truly experience a destination," says Rachel Hillman of FINN Travel in New York, whose personal People-to-People experience in the home of the founder of the Bahamian-led program left her genuinely impressed. "I think every destination ought to adopt programming like this."

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