With consumers increasingly opting to invest in doing fun things together, the experience market continues to soar. Virgin Experience Days talked to experience partners, looked at popular search trends and sales to forecast the new experiences visitors will be trying out in 2019:
Cooking with bugs
Bush tucker found its way onto supermarket shelves with the introduction of roasted crickets in 2018. This gastronomic phenomenon provides a great source of sustainable protein and demand for grubs on the menu will be met with Bug & Wine Pairings and Critter Cooking events springing up around the UK.
Out of the doghouse
With the PDSA reporting 49% of UK adults now owning a pet, the experience sector is increasingly acknowledging this important family member. Pet spas designed to indulge and revitalise the nation’s fur babies are already on the UK streets but 2019 will unleash new experience for those who want to enjoy time out with their dogs, including Doga (yoga for dogs) and dog-friendly cinema screenings. In addition, more classic British experiences will start to welcome four-legged friends, with more dogs welcome on boat trips, steam trains, short breaks and dining than ever before.
The art of fermentation
As consumers become increasingly health-conscious, supermarket aisles have become alive with fermented foods such as kefir, kombuchas, krauts and kimchi. With wildly popular online tutorials and international bestsellers a testament to fementation’s new-found fame, consumers will be looking to get hands on with professional classes and tastings and test weird and wonderful recipes of their own.
A rum year
While younger generations are drinking less alcohol, there is a thirst to consumer better quality alcohol when they do. Local producers of craft spirits are throwing opening their doors so visitors can learn more about where the spirits are made and tour the stills and cask rooms. While juniper lovers can be assured the ‘gin-aissance’ will continue, 2019 will see a touch of the exotic with highly skilled rum distillers sharing their knowledge across the UK. Rum tastings will also pack a punch in some of the UK’s major cities.
Rage rooms
If yoga doesn’t work for you, ‘destruction therapy’ could be the thing to restore your inner zen. Virgin Experience Days predicts the UK will be smashing its collective stress away in 2019 as rage rooms cross the Atlantic and pop up in cities around the UK. Perfect for team building, de-stressing or a date with a difference, rage rooms do just what they say on the tin – choose a theme tune, pick a weapon of choice, and get wrecking!
For more information please visit virginexperiencedays.co.uk
