Mastercard says half of Britons are planning to learn a new skill on holiday, as experience-led travel continues to reshape leisure spending.
The payments company’s survey of more than 27,000 holidaymakers across 28 European countries, including the UK, found that 49% of Britons now plan to master a new skill during a trip. Mastercard described the trend as the rise of the “skilliday”, with holidaymakers combining travel with learning, local culture, and hands-on activity.
Among UK respondents, 48% have already booked a skill-based holiday this year, covering areas such as learning a language, mastering a sport, or picking up survival skills. Younger travellers are leading the shift, with 70% of 18–24-year-olds and 69% of 24–34-year-olds having already planned a dedicated skill-based trip this year.
More than half of respondents, 53%, said travel feels more meaningful when they learn something new, while 49% said new skills are now a more valued memento than souvenirs. The findings point to a broader change in how consumers assess value from leisure spending, with memory, participation, and personal development carrying more weight than physical purchases.
Natalia Lechmanova, Chief Economist, Europe, Mastercard Economics Institute, said: “Today’s tourists are looking for travel experiences that leave a lasting impression, helping them to create memories, and increasingly, muscle memories. From winemaking and woodworking, to pottery, painting and even permaculture, consumers are opening their wallets for local businesses that can give them a taste of the culture, and a lesson that lasts long after they’ve arrived home.
“This also reflects a broader shift in how people value their money. Spending on experiences has proven more resilient than spending on goods, and skill-based trips sit right at the high-value end of that. Skill-based travel tends to draw people beyond the crowded hotspots and into smaller towns, rural areas and quieter seasons, helping to spread tourism’s benefits more evenly.”
Mastercard said the trend creates a revenue opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses in tourism, particularly local providers able to offer authentic learning experiences. Two in five tourists, 44%, said they are happy to pay more for a trip that teaches them a skill.
Food and drink production topped the list of skills UK holidaymakers are most interested in learning abroad, selected by 33% of respondents. That includes activities such as winemaking, cheesemaking, and brewing. Language skills followed at 32%, while 28% said they were interested in traditional crafts including pottery, weaving, woodworking, and textiles.
Other areas of interest included culinary workshops with local chefs, selected by 27%, creative arts such as photography, painting, and writing at 26%, wellness and movement at 23%, heritage crafts at 16%, sports and outdoor survival skills at 14% each, and sustainable living skills at 11%.
The findings sit alongside a wider consumer shift towards experience spending. Mastercard data has also shown Britons swapping screens for summer experiences, with travel, food, and live events becoming stronger leisure priorities as consumers seek more time offline.
For the tourism sector, the change from passive holidaymaking to participatory travel alters the economics of destination marketing. Hotels, tour operators, local instructors, farms, vineyards, restaurants, craft studios, language tutors, sports coaches, and cultural venues can all become part of higher-value itineraries.
A traveller taking a cookery class, guided outdoor course, or local craft workshop is likely to spend across a wider group of providers than a visitor focused mainly on accommodation and beachside leisure. That creates opportunities for smaller operators, provided they can make booking, payments, safety assurance, and customer support straightforward for international visitors.
Skill-based travel may also help spread visitor spending beyond heavily visited hotspots. Many of these experiences depend on local expertise, regional production, or landscape-specific activity, which can draw tourists into smaller towns, rural areas, and quieter seasons. In European destinations facing overcrowding, housing pressure, labour shortages, and infrastructure strain, that distribution of demand is commercially and politically valuable.
The opportunity still brings operational demands. Small providers may need digital booking systems, multilingual customer support, payments infrastructure, insurance, safety procedures, and partnerships with accommodation or travel platforms. Authenticity may drive demand, but trust and convenience often determine whether interest becomes a booking.
Generational differences suggest the market will not develop as a single category. Mastercard said millennials were most eager to immerse themselves in local food and wine production, at 40%, while holidaymakers aged 65 and over prioritised learning basic phrases in a new language while abroad. That points to a range of offerings, from premium gastronomy and craft-based itineraries to practical language-led travel and slower cultural immersion.
Mastercard said UK cardholders are also high spenders on bars and nightlife in Spain, spending on average 32% more than a regular visitor, while showing strong spend with tour operators when visiting Latin American destinations such as Mexico. British travellers are not abandoning traditional leisure, but many are now layering learning, culture, and guided experience on top of established holiday patterns.
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