For years, any mention of high-end tourism almost inevitably brought to mind luxury, five-star hotels, exclusive cuisine or services reserved for the few.
That concept is falling short.
The highest-value traveller of 2026 is still willing to spend, but is much more discerning what they spend their money on, why they do so, and what they get in return. The trend is moving less towards a desire for ostentation and more towards travel that is more personal, flexible, authentic and emotionally fulfilling.
International data is beginning to reflect this. The report Virtuoso Luxe Report 2026, based on the experience of more than 2,400 specialist travel advisers, identifies family holidays, cultural immersion, authenticity, adventure and gastronomy as the main trends amongst high-net-worth travellers. Spain also ranks amongst the ten most sought-after international destinations for this segment.
The issue, therefore, is no longer simply about attracting those who can spend the most.
The real challenge is to get him to find sufficient reasons to do so.
High-value tourism: value is no longer measured solely in euros
The concept of a “high-value traveller” can be misleading if it is reduced solely to expenditure.
One visitor might stay in an expensive establishment and have little impact on the rest of the destination. Another might choose lower-category accommodation, but book experiences, sample local cuisine, visit cultural venues, use guides, buy local produce and stay for longer.
The latter has the potential to contribute much more to the tourism sector.
This difference is leading destinations and businesses to look beyond the average price per room or daily spend.
Spain plays a particularly significant role in this context. According to the WTTC, spending by international visitors in the country reached 115.1 billion euros in 2025, making Spain the leading European destination in terms of international tourist spending.
The opportunity no longer lies simply in continuing to increase visitor numbers, but in to increase the value generated by each journey.
Travellers want to decide what their experience will be like
Personalisation is no longer a distinguishing feature, but is becoming an expectation.
The report Travel Dreams 2026 by Amadeus, based on a survey of 6,000 travellers and 500 hotel and destination managers, indicates that a 74% of travellers want personalised experiences. It also highlights a greater willingness to pay for features that offer time-saving benefits, convenience, control and flexibility.
This changes a lot of the rules.
Customers no longer want to be limited to choosing from pre-defined packages. They want to tailor their itineraries, select services, set the pace of their journey, avoid any hassle and feel that the offer is tailored to their specific circumstances.
And that’s where an interesting paradox arises.
The more technology advances, the more important the human ability to understand what each customer really needs becomes.
The artificial intelligence applied to travel It can make recommendations, segment customers, make predictions and automate processes. But it is still difficult to replace the judgement of someone who can distinguish between what a traveller asks for and what will actually make them enjoy their trip.
Authenticity versus standardisation
Another of the most obvious changes lies in the search for experiences that cannot be replicated exactly anywhere else.
For decades, much of the luxury tourism sector was built on international standards: similar rooms, similar services and recognisable experiences, regardless of the destination.
Now, a growing proportion of that market wants exactly the opposite.
He wants to know where it is.
Local cuisine, neighbourhoods, culture, the landscape, small businesses, local producers and the chance to meet the people who make up the destination take on a much greater significance.
It is not about doing away with excellence or comfort. It is about adding a sense of identity to them.
And that means hotels, incoming tour operators and destinations have to look to their immediate surroundings.
More spending, but also more discretion
Today’s travellers are not cutting back on their spending.
He is learning to justify that expenditure more effectively.
The Mastercard Research Centre predicts that by 2026, travellers will be increasingly… selective and value-driven, against a backdrop where rising costs are influencing purchasing decisions. More than half of the consumers surveyed across more than 60 markets expect to take at least one international trip this year, but their decisions are becoming increasingly deliberate.
This means that even customers with the highest spending power shop around.
They aren’t necessarily looking for the cheapest option, but they do want to understand what they’re getting in return.
A high price no longer guarantees a perception of exclusivity.
The service must provide justification for this.
Sustainability: from rhetoric to experience
Sustainability has also shifted in importance.
For years, it was often treated as a mere communication tool. Today, it has a direct impact on the product, on management and on the very perception of quality.
Amadeus identifies sustainability as one of the four major forces transforming the hospitality sector in 2026, alongside personalisation, wellbeing and the integration of artificial intelligence and automation.
For the discerning traveller, sustainability does not necessarily mean making sacrifices.
It may in fact mean exactly the opposite: gaining access to better-preserved places, consuming locally sourced produce, avoiding overcrowded attractions and receiving a service that is more closely linked to the local area.
The challenge for businesses is to prove this with facts.
Málaga is also changing its strategy
This debate has direct implications for our local community.
The Málaga Strategic Tourism Plan 2026–2029 sets out the promotion of high-value tourism segments as one of its key priorities and explicitly commits to the quality over quantity, sustainability, innovation and community engagement.
The strategy is back in the spotlight at the moment ahead of the upcoming World Travel Market in London. Málaga will be attending the fair from 3 to 5 November with a programme focusing particularly on premium segments, gastronomy, MICE and cruises, as part of a policy aimed at attracting tourism with higher added value.
The direction seems clear.
The future of established destinations cannot be based solely on attracting more visitors.
It must involve receiving best holidays.
True luxury can be something else entirely
Weather.
Space.
Silence.
A good conversation.
A restaurant that isn’t featured in all the guidebooks.
A room prepared with the occupant in mind.
A professional who solves a problem before the client has to ask for help.
An experience that doesn’t seem designed for thousands of identical people.
Perhaps that is the most significant change.
High-value tourism is no longer defined solely by what costs a lot of money.
It is increasingly defined by what turns out to be hard to replace.
And that opens up a huge opportunity for destinations, hotels, travel agencies and tourism companies that are able to offer something that no platform can mass-produce:
judgement, identity and genuine care.
