Leisure Spending 2026: What Consumers Actually Want

Stephen Davis, Managing Partner at Integrated Insights, joined Sondra Shannon to discuss key findings from the 2026 Leisure Consumer Survey and what they mean for attraction operators. The conversation centered on using consumer insights, forecasting, and data-driven decision-making to drive sustainable growth.

The Executive Brief

Problem: Many attractions are making pricing, marketing, and operational decisions without a clear understanding of evolving consumer behavior, while increasing competition for leisure spending continues to pressure attendance and revenue.
The Transformation: Shift from assumption-based decision-making to a consumer-led strategy that aligns pricing, operations, and guest experience with what visitors truly value.
The Strategy: Measure guest satisfaction and value perception, strengthen forecasting practices, leverage guest data across departments, and evaluate every business decision through the lens of the consumer.

The Strategic Framework:

Phase 1: Understand the Consumer
Track guest satisfaction, spending behavior, and value perception to identify what drives attendance and repeat visitation.

Phase 2: Strengthen Value
Focus on the complete guest experience, not just admission pricing. Bundles, packages, and clear value messaging can improve purchase confidence.

Phase 3: Forecast with Purpose
Create digital memberships, track player achievements, and personalize communications to encourage return visits.

Phase 4: Optimize for Discovery
Ensure your attraction is visible across search, AI-powered recommendations, reviews, and digital channels where guests are planning trips.

Operational Excellence

A recurring theme throughout the conversation was simple but powerful:

Lead with the consumer.

Whether evaluating pricing, technology, staffing, or marketing initiatives, the most successful operators begin by understanding how a decision impacts the guest experience. Consumer trust and perceived value remain critical drivers of long-term performance.

Strategic Growth Story

Communicating More Value from Existing Assets

Research conducted by Integrated Insights frequently reveals that consumers underestimate everything an attraction offers until the full experience is explained.

Once guests understand the breadth of activities, amenities, and experiences available, perceived value often increases significantly.

Strategic Lesson

Growth doesn’t always require a new attraction or major capital investment. Sometimes the biggest opportunity is better communicating the value already inside your gates.

The Power Quote

“Everything that you should do as an attraction should be led with the consumer in mind. I think that is the path towards success.”

— Stephen Davis

Scale with Intentionality

The attractions positioned for long-term growth are the ones turning guest data into actionable insights. When ticketing, POS, memberships, and revenue streams are connected, operators gain the visibility needed to make smarter decisions and create stronger guest experiences.

For more than three decades, Gatemaster Technology has helped attractions unify operations, understand customer behavior, and build scalable systems that support sustainable growth. Because the best decisions start with understanding the guest behind every transaction.

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