Immersive attractions are worth £7.4bn a year to the UK economy, according to new modelling from Grant Thornton. The sector, which spans ABBA Voyage, The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience and dozens of similar attractions, generated £3.9bn in gross value added and supports around 47,600 full-time jobs.
The figures come from the first Experience Economy Index, produced with trade body Experience UK and two King’s College London academics, Dr Hang-Yee Chan and Dr Ozlem Tetik.
A survey of 4,000 consumers for the report found 31% of Britons, equivalent to 17m adults, attended an immersive experience in the past year, spending an average of £210 each time, with many eating, drinking or shopping locally while there. The scale a single attraction can reach varies widely: ABBA Voyage alone reportedly brought in over £100m in ticket revenue in 2023.
Regionally, Grant Thornton’s modelling puts the GVA contribution at £154m in the North West, £233m in Scotland and £510m in Northern Ireland.
The figures sit within a wider pattern: ONS data shows experience-related spending was worth at least £206bn in 2025, or 11.7% of UK consumer spending, a share the report’s authors expect to reach 13% by 2031, adding around £23bn. Separately, 40% of UK adults say they’re prioritising experiences over material things, rising to 54% among 18 to 34 year-olds.
Read the full report: Here
Industry reaction
Tom Middleton, economic consulting partner at Grant Thornton UK, said the effects spread well beyond the obvious sectors, “extending into financial services, travel, hospitality, retail, technology and infrastructure.”
Ian Clappison, chief executive of Experience UK, the Manchester-based trade body established in 2009, said the findings strengthen the case for policy recognition: “It is a major engine of economic growth, supporting thousands of jobs, strengthening destinations and generating valuable additional spending across hospitality, retail, transport and tourism. We now need the Experience Economy to be fully recognised in economic and industrial policy.”
