Dubai : New insights reveal that UAE travellers are increasingly embracing “Travel Maxxing” – a growing trend where trips are designed to maximise value, flexibility and experiences across every stage of travel, rather than focusing on a single destination, as Millennials and Gen Z prioritise more frequent, experience-led travel.
Younger travellers are driving frequent, multi-destination travel
The shift is particularly visible among younger travellers, with 48% of Gen Z globally saying they visited multiple countries on their last trip, reflecting a clear move towards multi-destination journeys that is also influencing outbound travel behaviour from the UAE.
More broadly, travellers are adapting how they spend on travel, with 40% planning to increase travel spending in 2026 and 74% of Millennials and Gen Z saying travel is a ‘non-negotiable’ expense. At the same time, there is growing preference for shorter-haul and intra-regional trips, as travellers look to maximise time in destination while reducing time in transit.
Regional connectivity is enabling Travel Maxxing
The UAE’s position as a global aviation hub connecting Europe, Asia and Africa is helping to enable this behaviour, making it easier for travellers to extend trips, add stopovers and combine destinations within a single itinerary. The UAE’s ambitions for its national rail network and seamless domestic travel further support the Travel Maxxing trend, benefiting both regional and international travellers.
Travel Maxxing is creating new opportunities for cross-border spend and loyalty
As journeys become more complex and experience-led, travel is no longer a single transaction but a series of connected spending moments across multiple destinations, currencies and touchpoints.
This evolution is creating more frequent opportunities for consumer spend across airports, stations, hotels, dining and retail, while also increasing demand for benefits that support convenience, comfort and flexibility throughout the journey.
Travel is becoming a more recurring lifestyle behaviour rather than a once-a-year event, enabling brands to engage customers more consistently and build deeper, long-term loyalty relationships. Mastercard’s report showed travel related spend continues to drive transaction volume and revenue growth. 75% of Millennials and Gen Z plan to arrive at the airport early so they can access lounge amenities.
Todd Handcock, Global Chief Commercial Officer, Collinson International, said: “The term ‘Travel Maxxing’ speaks to a fundamental shift in how younger people travel, with Millennials and Gen Z prioritising more frequent, multi-destination journeys that combine flexibility, cultural immersion and experiences within a single trip; maximising time spent exploring rather than simply travelling.
This shift means travel is no longer a single transaction, but a series of connected spending moments across markets and currencies. For financial services providers, this creates a clear opportunity to drive cross-border spend, strengthen top-of-wallet behaviour and build deeper, more consistent engagement with customers throughout the year, particularly through relevant benefits and experiences that support the full travel journey.”
The trend highlights how travel is increasingly becoming a continuous, experience-led behaviour rather than a single destination-focused event.
