Travel costs in the United States have risen 23% since 2019, with hotel rates up nearly 58% from 2020 levels, prompting shifts in consumer behavior and signaling pricing strain in the mid-market tourism sector.

Investors are reassessing the global luxury sector after LVMH signaled a more cautious outlook, raising questions about pricing power, consumer fatigue, and the durability of post-pandemic growth.

Global tourism spending rose 6.7% in 2025 to $11.7 trillion even as the United States experienced a 6% decline in foreign arrivals, reflecting shifting travel preferences and implications for global wealth flows.

Saks Global Enterprises, owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman, has missed a major bond payment as leverage and changing consumer behavior expose vulnerabilities in the luxury retail model.

Softening resale prices for Hermès Birkin bags point to weakening demand among aspirational luxury buyers, highlighting a growing divergence between discretionary consumers and ultra-high-net-worth spending.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar signed an agreement for a high-speed electric passenger rail link connecting Riyadh’s King Salman International Airport and Doha’s Hamad International Airport, with service planned within six years.

Marriott International is preparing a significant expansion across India, driven by rapid growth in premium travel, upscale hospitality demand, and emerging high-value markets

After years of aggressive increases, brands confront slowing demand and shifting expectations.

Forbes highlights the major luxury-travel shifts for 2026, from wellness-driven escapes to immersive, off-the-beaten-path destinations, signaling a new era for high-end tourism.

Qatar will send $3.5 billion to Egypt for a new Mediterranean tourism development at Alam Al-Roum—part of a $30 billion plan signaling renewed Gulf confidence in Egypt’s reform path and the shifting geography of long-term investment.

Sustainability becomes the new measure of sophistication.