Gaming Drives New Tourist Behavior
15 October 2026
The gaming and tourism sectors are merging, with live events and digital marketing leveraging games to draw tourists.
Esport Tourism: Gaming abroad takes new meaning
Esports are no longer just an entertainment trend. They're a growing force in travel. A 2023 survey from Skift and Qiddiya City found that 60% of Gen Z and Millennial travelers globally said they'd be interested in planning a trip around a gaming or esports event. What's more, 22% of those under 40 had already planned such trips for the next two years, up 7% from the previous two-year period.
These figures show a new category of tourism built around gaming and esports events is emerging, combined with other travel elements such as entertainment, dining and sightseeing.
Travelers are willing to go to great lengths for esports events. 55% of respondents to the Skift survey said they'd travel over 4 hours to participate, with 50% of those participating traveling internationally. Esports are thus becoming a solid trigger for out-of-country travel.
The Esports World Cup took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 6 to July 23, 2023, welcoming over 1.8 million spectators in person. The 2023 edition of the tournament expanded to 1,500 elite players and 150 clubs from over 80 countries, for a total prize pool exceeding $45 million. Such headline events will continue to draw huge numbers of tourists from all over the globe.
Destinations are now investing in infrastructure to support gaming tourism. A new gaming and esports district is underway in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia. Covering 160,000 square meters, the district aims to cater to professional players, avid fans, and casual visitors united by their love of gaming.
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Qiddiya's plans are part of a broader trend of tourism investments in gaming. Tourism New Zealand has developed the Aotearoa New Zealand downloadable content (DLC) in Minecraft, an open-world game. The DLC features five iconic locations and activities mirroring experiences in the real world, encouraging gamers to visit. The project was created with ten mana whenua groups and the Māori game design studio Piki Studios to ensure cultural authenticity.
Lanzarote's Chamber of Commerce and the island council held a conference this year to explore new tourism opportunities involving the video game industry, information provided by the Canary Islands Tourism Institute shows. The agency's tourism promotion arm has developed a virtual experience on Roblox, a popular multimedia development platform, to showcase island attractions.
Each of these projects highlights games as a platform for tourism marketing, destination branding and cultural storytelling. Tourism-industry research has begun to support video games as a tourism driver. A 2023 academic paper notes that destinations should consider games an important part of motivating tourists. It suggests that video-game-induced tourism will become a notable trend over the next decade.
As the game economy surges, gaming will grow as an engine of tourism. Some brands will expand their own esports offerings, as well as using game marketing for travel promotions. Destinations will either need to invest in gaming infrastructure, or carve a marketing niche targeting game fans. Visitor bureaus that leverage gaming platforms and esports events for tourism appeals will be at an advantage in building loyalty with young travelers.
The industry needs gaming tourism benchmarks and collaboration but will eventually produce destination champions and notable case studies. Gaming tourism actions taken now could pay future dividends in expanding the reach of visitation for a sector relying too much on business travel, domestic day trips and road-based tourism.