2023 Traveler Value Index
At a glance
- Travel remains a top consumer priority; pandemic-driven trends like heightened cleanliness standards have diminished, while demand for exceptional experiences persists.
- Industry professionals must adapt offerings to align with permanent changes in consumer behaviour to sustain competitiveness in the post-pandemic landscape.
- Report identifies evolving expectations across multiple geographic markets, signalling need for DMOs and hoteliers to prioritize experience quality.
What the report covers
The 2023 Traveler Value Index, published by Expedia Group, surveyed 11,000 travelers and 1,100 industry professionals across 11 Asia-Pacific markets. The research examines how pandemic-influenced changes have reshaped traveler preferences and priorities, distinguishing between temporary behavioural shifts and enduring trends. The index serves as a benchmark for travel stakeholders—destination marketing organizations, hoteliers, and travel-tech operators—to understand consumer expectations and guide strategic adaptation in a recovering, evolving travel market.
Key findings
Travel remains a top priority for consumers, with 11,000 travelers providing direct input on their evolving preferences. The index collected insights from 1,100 industry professionals across 11 geographic markets in Asia-Pacific, positioning the research as a broad diagnostic tool for understanding post-pandemic traveler behaviour.
The pandemic triggered significant shifts in traveler expectations, but not all effects have persisted. While heightened cleanliness standards—a pronounced concern during lockdowns—have diminished as a differentiator, other behavioural changes are proving more durable and will shape the industry outlook.
Demand for exceptional experiences has emerged as a permanent, rather than temporary, consequence of the pandemic. Travellers now prioritize quality and distinctiveness over routine functionality, reflecting deeper recalibration of what constitutes value in travel.
The research emphasizes that travel stakeholders must adapt their offerings to align with these permanent changes in consumer behaviour. Generic or cost-centred propositions risk losing relevance; competitive advantage increasingly depends on delivering memorable, high-quality experiences tailored to modern traveler expectations.
Why it matters
DMOs & destinations
DMOs must recognize that experience quality has become a durable competitive criterion post-pandemic. Cleanliness alone no longer differentiates; destinations must invest in distinctive, memorable offerings to align with traveler priorities and justify selection among growing destination choice.
Hotels & hospitality
Hotels face permanent recalibration of guest expectations. While pandemic-driven hygiene premiums may soften, consumer demand for exceptional experiences will remain structural. Hoteliers must move beyond baseline service to create curated, high-value experiences that justify pricing and loyalty in a recovery-phase market.
Travel tech & distribution
Travel-tech platforms and distribution channels must evolve product presentation and search functionality to surface experience quality, not just availability or price. Aligning inventory curation and customer journeys with traveler demand for distinctive offerings will be critical for capturing conversion and retention in the post-pandemic era.
Methodology and limits
The index aggregated responses from 11,000 travelers and 1,100 industry professionals surveyed across 11 Asia-Pacific geographic markets. The research employed a mixed-method approach combining traveler and professional perspectives to triangulate findings on pandemic-influenced preference shifts. This brief is based on the publicly available summary only; the full report content is not accessible via the provided URL.
This brief is based on the publicly available summary of the report only (the full document is gated or was not reachable).
Official source
The report is © Expedia Group. This brief is an original editorial summary by TourismIntel — it quotes only figures published in the source and never reproduces the document.
Check the official statistics on Pulse
Related reports
Expedia Group's Unpack '26 report reveals that travellers in 2026 are prioritising experiences reflecting personal identity and passions, moving beyond traditional destination selection.
Expedia Group's 2025 Traveller Value Index reveals 88% of consumers planning leisure trips and 68% targeting international bookings in the next 12 months—significantly higher than 2022.
Expedia Group's Unpack '24 report forecasts major travel trends for 2024 using 70 petabytes of platform data and a 20,000-respondent global survey. Set-jetting—travel inspired by television and film—dominates, with over half of travellers having booked screen-influenced trips.
Expedia Group's 2023 Traveler Value Index reveals that travel has re-established itself as a consumer priority post-pandemic, with 11,000 travellers and 1,100 industry professionals contributing insights across 11 markets.