Tourism boards typically treat culture as a backdrop for marketing, but the real dynamic runs in reverse: creative industries— film, music, food, fashion all work together to build a place's identity and desirability long before a traveller books anything.

As CEO Rafat Ali explores in his latest article, marketing departments can push destination tourism for a window of time, but culture will draw interest for years and years. South Korea is a fine example of culture driving tourism, with long-term government investment in cultural production core to the country’s international allure.

Modern innovation has a part to play in amplifying culture, too — as algorithmic tools handle generic destination queries, culturally distinctive places will surface more readily than generic ones. A beach is a commodity, while a recognisable film scene or cuisine is not. The big question for every country seeking tourism growth is — what kind of culture are they exporting to the global stage?

Close to 400 senior travel executives from more than 30 countries will be in Bangkok on April 29 - including the CEOs of Agoda, Wego, and RedDoorz; the APAC presidents of Hilton and Marriott; and the CPO of Grab. The room is nearly full.

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Skift Research’s Global Traveler Mindset and Trends 2026 report brings together insights from traveler surveys across Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America to provide a unified view of how travelers are thinking, planning, and booking in today’s environment.

Gen Z and millennials rely on social media for travel discovery far more than Gen X and baby boomers, confirming that for younger cohorts, social is the search engine for travel.

Baby boomers rank official platforms highest at 22%, compared to just 15% for Gen Z, suggesting that institutional trust correlates with age.

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