The Shift Toward Experience-Led Spending Among Women

A data-led breakdown of how women are prioritizing experiences

Women's discretionary spending is increasingly directed toward experiences — travel, in-person activities, social events, and structured time away. But the story behind that shift is more nuanced than a simple preference change.

It's also shaped by constraints. Limited leisure time, scarce everyday social interaction, and the difficulty of prioritizing personal wellbeing are all driving demand for experiences that create dedicated space for connection, rest, and time away from routine.

This report uses publicly available U.S. consumer spending, time-use, and participation data to examine how experiences are becoming a more prominent part of how women allocate both time and money. The findings draw on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Global Wellness Institute, Eventbrite, McKinsey, and Gallup.

Key Highlights

• Women make up the majority of solo travelers, commonly cited at 60–70% of all solo travel participants

• 63% of women say it is difficult to prioritize their own wellbeing (Gallup)

• Women spend 4.7 hours per day on leisure, compared with 5.5 hours for men (BLS)

• Americans average just 35 minutes per day socializing — rising to 56 minutes on weekends (BLS)

• U.S. consumers spend an average of $3,609 per year on entertainment (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey)

• Health and fitness event participation increased 130% in 2024, with overall attendance up 146% (Eventbrite 2025)

• Wellness tourism has reached 136% of pre-2020 levels, with projected growth of 9.1% annually through 2029 (Global Wellness Institute)

• 56% of consumers who attend in-person experiences travel two or more hours to do so (McKinsey)

Women Are Leading Solo Travel Participation

Women make up the majority of solo travelers globally, with participation commonly cited between 60–70% of all solo travelers.

This points to something broader than a travel trend. Women are actively seeking out experiences centered on personal time, independence, and structured activity — and they're increasingly willing to do so alone.

Solo travel, in this context, is less about the absence of companionship and more about the presence of intention. It reflects a deliberate choice to invest time and money in an experience on one's own terms.

Experience-Based Spending Is a Core Part of Consumer Behavior

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey, U.S. consumers spend an average of $3,609 per year on entertainment.

That figure reflects a consistent, sustained allocation of discretionary income toward experiences — events, activities, and leisure — rather than physical goods.

It also establishes a baseline: experience-led spending isn't an emerging quirk of consumer behavior. It's already a well-established line item in the household budget.

Limited Leisure Time Increases the Value of Structured Experiences

BLS time-use data shows that women average 4.7 hours of leisure per day, compared with 5.5 hours for men — a gap of nearly an hour.

When leisure time is limited, how it gets spent carries more weight. Unstructured downtime can easily be absorbed by low-effort, passive activities.

Structured experiences — trips, events, planned activities — offer something different. They create a defined boundary around time, making it harder for that time to be eroded by other demands. For women navigating busy schedules, that structure has real value.

Social Time Constraints Reinforce Demand for Shared Experiences

Americans spend an average of just 35 minutes per day socializing. That figure rises to 56 minutes on weekends, but remains relatively low across the board.

For women who already have less leisure time than men, meaningful social interaction can be even harder to come by on a day-to-day basis.

This creates demand for experiences that make connection the point — not a byproduct. Events, group activities, and shared environments offer a reliable way to create social time that would otherwise be difficult to carve out.

Participation in In-Person and Interest-Based Experiences Is Rising

Data from Eventbrite's Fourth Spaces Report (2025) shows that health and fitness event participation increased 130% in 2024, with overall event attendance up 146%.

These aren't passive forms of entertainment. Interest-based, in-person events combine activity, social interaction, and shared experience — making them a particularly efficient use of limited leisure time.

The sharp growth figures suggest this isn't a niche behavior. Consumers across demographics are increasingly seeking out structured, communal environments as a meaningful alternative to solo or screen-based leisure.

Travel and Time Away Are a Growing Part of Experience-Led Spending

According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness tourism has reached 136% of pre-2020 levels and is projected to grow at 9.1% annually through 2029.

Travel tied to rest, activity, and personal wellbeing is no longer a luxury segment — it's a mainstream and growing category of consumer spending.

Short breaks, retreats, and activity-led trips are increasingly how people choose to invest discretionary income, particularly when everyday leisure time feels insufficient or fragmented.

Experiences Often Involve Additional Time and Financial Investment

McKinsey's Future of Wellness research finds that 56% of consumers who attend in-person experiences travel two or more hours to get there.

That level of commitment — in both time and associated cost — signals something important. People aren't stumbling into these experiences. They are actively planning for them, budgeting for them, and prioritizing them.

Experience-led spending often extends well beyond the activity itself, encompassing travel, accommodation, and related costs. The willingness to absorb those costs reflects how much value consumers place on the experience.

Time and Attention Constraints Shape Spending Decisions

Gallup data finds that 63% of women say it is difficult to prioritize their own wellbeing. Women and younger consumers are also more likely than other groups to actively prioritize wellness-related activities when they do have the time and resources.

This creates a particular dynamic. The harder it becomes to carve out time for oneself, the more deliberate the spending decision becomes when that time does appear.

Experiences — especially those that combine rest, social connection, and time away from routine — become a way of making that time count.

What the Data Suggests

Taken together, the data points to a clear pattern. Women are increasingly directing discretionary spending toward experiences — travel, in-person events, and structured social activities — at a time when everyday leisure and social time remain limited.

The demand isn't just for entertainment. It's for experiences that create dedicated space for connection, rest, and time that feels genuinely their own.

Planned experiences — whether a trip, a retreat, or a structured group activity — offer something that passive leisure rarely does: a reliable way to step outside of routine and invest in time that is protected, purposeful, and shared.

Methodology

This analysis draws on publicly available datasets. Consumer spending figures are sourced from the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Time-use data comes from the BLS American Time Use Survey. Wellness tourism figures are from the Global Wellness Institute. Event participation data comes from Eventbrite's Fourth Spaces Report (2025). Wellness spending behavior is drawn from McKinsey's Future of Wellness report. Wellbeing prioritization data comes from Gallup. Solo travel participation figures are drawn from travel industry reporting, commonly cited across multiple sources.