Gen Z & Alpha reshape DMO engagement through gaming. Destinations must adapt to immersive digital trends to connect with future travellers.
As two of the most influential and digitally immersed generations, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are reshaping how DMOs interact with gamified storytelling. Born into the digital age, these generations exhibit unique preferences, values and behaviours that significantly impact how they travel.
With X. Design Week approaching, here at the Digital Tourism Think Tank, we have been exploring generational characteristics in the midst of preparing for our Generational Intelligence sprint. We've examined the characteristics of both generations and their shared affinity for gaming and immersive experiences, evaluating how DMOs are leveraging these trends to encourage digital engagement that inspires travel.
While Gen Alpha is still an emerging market, it represents a strategic focus for forward-thinking destinations. DMOs need to prepare now for these digitally immersed audiences whose relationship with technology will fundamentally shape their travel expectations and decisions. As gaming's influence in tourism continues to grow, destinations that fail to engage with these platforms risk missing crucial opportunities to connect with these future travellers.
Born between 2013 and 2024, Gen Alpha is the first generation entirely born and raised in the digital era, representing approximately 2 billion people. Their relationship with technology begins early, with 58% owning smartphones by age 10 and possessing as many digital devices as adults by age 13. Following COVID-19 uncertainty, they've developed consumer habits similar to the Silent Generation phenomenon, with Millennial parents focused on fulfilling their consumer desires. This gives Gen Alpha remarkable spending influence, estimated at $300 billion annually through parental income, with 28% of Millennial parents globally subscribing to monthly e-gaming services for their children (as of October 2024).
Gen Z (born 1997-2012) makes purchasing decisions quickly with more information, being both tech-integrated and socially responsible. As they enter adulthood their spending power is increasing. However, having matured during the pandemic they have fostered a defensive financial mindset, with 43% cutting back on non-essential spending, reflecting their value of economic resilience over impulsive consumption.
To successfully engage both Gen Alpha and Gen Z, DMOs must adopt a highly curated approach tailored to each generation's distinct behaviours. For Gen Alpha, this means understanding their evolving spending influence and targeting not just them but also their Millennial parents, who ultimately make purchasing activities on their behalf. On the other hand, capturing the interest of Gen Z requires campaigns that align with their values, particularly financial pragmatism and social responsibility. By crafting authentic and purpose-driven marketing strategies, DMOs can effectively inspire them to consider and commit to travel expenses.
Despite their different digital behaviours, both generations show remarkably high engagement with gaming, with statistics showing that 90% of Gen Z and 93% of Gen Alpha play games regularly. This shared affinity creates a unique opportunity for destinations to engage with these audiences through carefully crafted gaming experiences.
Despite potential digital fatigue from online learning, playing games is Gen Alpha's and Gen Z's second most popular activity, outranking seeing friends in person. Research suggests that this is because the avatars in these games allow them to express themselves and socialise without feeling self-conscious. They are redefining traditional gaming by using it as a primary means of social engagement, digital interaction, self-expression and creativity.
The gaming industry is set for continued growth, with global gaming revenue projected to reach £257 billion by 2028. Games transcend traditional marketing boundaries by creating memorable, immersive experiences that traditional advertising cannot match. Gamification significantly enhances engagement, with campaigns featuring gamified elements experiencing a 100%-150% increase in user interaction. This cultural shift and self-perception could have strong implications for how DMOs engage with these generations. They might need to consider more immersive digital experiences to engage them online before they even begin to inspire them to explore real-world destinations. The most popular games fall into three key categories:
More specifically, the top three computer games are Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite, offering customisable avatars, social events and the ability to build and explore virtual worlds with friends. Many destinations are embracing this trend by launching marketing campaigns within these popular game titles.
Best practices for destinations involve creating complete virtual experiences, not just individual games. Tourism New Zealand's groundbreaking partnership with Minecraft exemplifies the strategic potential of such experiences, enabling users to play and explore at the same time. As the first national tourism organisation to create a fully playable version of their country within the Minecraft universe, Tourism New Zealand has developed the Aotearoa New Zealand DLC. The game features six iconic locations, each offering activities mirroring real-world experiences.
Coinciding with the release of A Minecraft Movie — which was filmed in New Zealand — the initiative strategically targets Minecraft's massive player base. By creating this immersive virtual experience that authentically captures the country's intrinsic nature, Tourism New Zealand has effectively positioned itself to convert virtual exploration into actual visitation, offering a blueprint for destinations seeking to engage Gen Alpha and Gen Z through gaming.
Rather than simply creating promotional content, Tourism New Zealand has collaborated with eleven mana whenua (Māori groups) and Māori game design studio Piki Studios to ensure cultural authenticity, with players beginning their journey with a traditional welcome on a marae. This comprehensive approach is projected to generate £50 million in visitor spending and an additional £50 million in advertising value, demonstrating the substantial return on investment that gaming can bring as a marketing platform for destinations.
Turismo de Andalucía is another noteworthy example of a destination capitalising on the power of Minecraft as a marketing platform. Having virtually recreated Andalusia in the game, the DMO's approach leverages the growth of popular streaming channels, such as Twitch, by working with gaming influencers to promote the region. Through organising a gaming competition, the DMO brought together multiple influencers, with the winner gaining the opportunity to gift two trips to Andalucia to their followers.
With 2.5 million concurrent viewers and 1.83 billion hours watched (in January 2025), Twitch offers a strategic opportunity for DMOs to tap into this captive audience of gaming aficionados, ultimately improving their brand recognition as a vibrant destination for younger travellers. YouGov research even shows how gaming influencers are among the most admired and reach an untapped audience, with 12% of viewers not following another type of influencer.
Roblox serves as a modern version of Second Life, offering a low-tech yet highly immersive way for destinations to engage audiences. DCT Abu Dhabi has introduced virtual reality tours of Yas Island in Roblox. This initiative allows virtual travellers worldwide to explore Yas Island’s attractions without leaving their homes. Users’ digital avatars can embark on a journey through key Abu Dhabi landmarks. Spanning 25 square kilometres of digitised experiences, the virtual environment offers a playable and socially engaging world designed for global audiences. Players can engage in interactive experiences, immersive environments and games, with the ability to explore and even build cultural and entertainment attractions.
Similarly, 'Qatar Adventure', allows users to explore various Qatari locations and participate in minigames. Having attracted more than seven million visits in only eight weeks upon first launching, with 87% of in-game respondents becoming interested in visiting Qatar, a second chapter of the game introduced a tycoon game mechanic, enabling users to build their own virtual Qatar with iconic attractions. The inclusion of a permanent storefront for authentic digital Middle Eastern goods — replicating the Souq Waqif marketplace — allowed users to interact with traditional Qatari items and even sample virtual fares.
Beyond the Middle East, Go Tokyo launched the HELLO! TOKYO FRIENDS immersive experience in Roblox, featuring different worlds that show the city’s evolution over time, from the samurai culture of 'Edo Tokyo' and 'Retro Tokyo' in the late 19th and 20th century to 'Modern Tokyo'. The 'Tama & Tokyo Islands' world adds an additional element, leveraging gaming to address regionality and encourage the spread of travellers into the city's rural surroundings.
In the most recent addition to the HELLO! TOKYO FRIENDS Roblox universe, the DMO launched a 'Future Tokyo' world, where players can visit the 'Future Mobility Lab' to design and customise their own flying cars and test drive their creations by racing against their friends. Taking things to the next level, the Roblox world can even be connected to reality by incorporating an AR experience that can be accessed through the 'TOKYO HUNT' web app, enabling travellers to drive their car across the city skyline. The web app acts as a companion for an AR sightseeing tour of Tokyo, connecting reality with the characters from Roblox. This also serves an additional purpose, namely encouraging gamers to take sharable photos and videos for social media. As an added incentive, exclusive Roblox items can be claimed by travellers who have visited Tokyo by using the app to check-in at different locations.
Since its launch in 2017, Fortnite has influenced popular culture, attracting attention from global brands such as Disney, Nike and Marriott. The Kusatsu Onsen Tourism Association exemplifies how destinations can leverage this platform, promoting their Yubatake and Netsu-no-yu hot spring resorts through Fortnite. Tenshabi Studio has virtually recreated these iconic landmarks, introducing them to a new demographic, both in Japan and globally. This approach shows how virtual spaces can introduce real destinations to digitally native younger audiences, highlighting how DMOs can meet potential travellers in the spaces they already inhabit.
At a national level, Visit Argentina worked with StadioPlus to develop 'Argentina Parkour Minigames' on Fortnite, highlighting the most iconic locations in the country across seven distinct regions. Through challenges, gamers are fully immersed in the diverse landscapes of the country, bringing the distinctive appeal of the country to life as an adventure destination. Building on its success, a second iteration of these minigames added three regions to this interactive gaming environment. Such actions show the increasing value of branded games for destination marketing and tapping into audiences from an early age, with people's values shaping their decisions later in life.
Going beyond the main gaming platforms, some DMOs have invested in building their own gamified destination discovery experiences. A notable example is Explore Wales in the Metaverse, which lets players build itineraries while collecting dragons and learning about Welsh sights and culture. This combination of building itineraries and collecting dragons shows a complete experience design, where learning about must-visit attractions in an immersive environment bridges virtual and physical exploration.
Likewise, The Great Big Kentucky Adventure is an interactive game allowing players to explore Kentucky's biggest attractions through themed levels inspired by real locations. Characters jump through obstacles, collect cookies and fight monsters, with the entire experience designed to be immersive and interactive. Each of the twelve cities featured in the game has its own dedicated page to connect the virtual experience with planning a real-world trip to the attractions that inspired each level of the game.
DMOs should also consider how the destination itself can form part of a wider set of gamified destination experiences. This is to highlight the importance of capitalising on gaming culture and strategically promoting these experiences as a space for community. The Kingdom Come Deliverance Live project, supported by CzechTourism, capitalises on the success of the Kingdom Come: Deliverance games by providing immersive, gamified experiences in the real locations that influenced the game. This initiative enables visitors to delve into the rich medieval history of the Czech Republic.
Gaming also provides many opportunities for destinations to host events. While most popular games have dedicated competitions, this year Saudi Arabia is set to host the first Esports Olympic Games and aims to build a world-class gaming industry as part of its ambition to become a global hub for gaming and esports. This initiative focuses on fostering a gaming community, while also securing large-scale esports events. By hosting the Esports Olympic Games, the country aims to attract international gaming communities and position itself as a major tourism destination for gaming experiences.
As Gen Alpha has a significant influence on their parents' spending habits, they are often the key decision-makers when choosing a family holiday destination. However, not all destinations are capitalising on this. A strong example of a destination successfully engaging with this trend is Turismo de Canarias, which has partnered with Roblox to promote environmental awareness among these younger generations.
Find the Seasouls is an interactive experience designed to inspire Gen Alpha to care for the environment on a holiday. Players use their avatars to explore the eight Canary Islands by visiting different landscapes. Their mission is to find and engage with the 160 Seasouls, which are special characters representing the region's wildlife.
This is an excellent example of how destinations can align with the values of Gen Alpha, reinforcing their commitment to environmental responsibility. With 30% of Gen Alpha stating they want to make a difference and prioritise sustainability, campaigns like this resonate deeply with them. The game highlights local wildlife and encourages travellers to be more mindful of their surroundings during their stay.
The educational impact of teaching about conservation through gaming shows how destinations can promote responsible tourism while creating experiences that bridge generations by appealing to environmentally conscious values shared across age groups. Additionally, as key decision makers in most purchases made by their Millennial parents, Gen Alpha is likely to influence their families to choose destinations that reflect their values.
DMOs don't need full game development capabilities to create engaging gamified experiences. Find your Freedom, a gamified video campaign from Cape Town Tourism, demonstrates how destinations can incorporate interactive game elements in their marketing strategies. The campaign features a storyteller who leads viewers to engage and select character options divided into three communities of travellers: 'Nature Warriors', 'Urban Adventurers' and 'Fearless Foodies'.
These characters act as guides for a digital journey through Cape Town's culture and attractions, with viewers selecting which character they want to be and exploring that segment, placing them in charge of interacting with the content they want to see. The game concludes with an encouragement to book a trip and provides links to finalise travel purchases to drive conversion.
Similarly, the Singapore Tourism Board's TikTok campaign, The Journey: Singapore, shows how social media can be gamified without building a traditional game. The campaign features six Australian influencers competing for the title of 'The Destination's Most Viral Creator', with the winner gifting one of their followers a trip for two to Singapore. By using influencers and interactive challenges, the campaign creates engagement through gamified social media content.
The series explored the influencers' journey throughout Singapore as they completed four interactive challenges in six days. Capitalising on Singapore as a culinary hub, one of the challenges had creators taste and recreate traditional dishes, showcasing the destination's gastronomy. This approach effectively engages Gen Z travellers who seek unique and budget-friendly experiences and look to social media for holiday inspiration. Additionally, influencer partnerships within gamified campaigns can amplify reach and authenticity, particularly with Gen Z audiences who view content creators as trusted peers rather than advertisers.
Beyond high-performance gaming, there is a growing trend toward more accessible, everyday gaming experiences. Contrary to the assumption that gaming is limited to young people, platforms like Netflix are expanding their reach by integrating a broad spectrum of games on the platform that appeal to a much wider audience. These games are divided into genres and cover categories like action, adventure and puzzles.
This broadening of gaming experiences presents new opportunities for destination storytelling. As we highlighted recently, streaming platforms are already key players in destination marketing. Integrating interactive gaming elements can create deeper engagement through popular shows that have inspired jet-setting. For example, the Netflix series Emily in Paris has inspired Emily in Paris the mobile game. The show has played a big role in inspiring tourism to Paris, with 40% of visitors in 2024 citing that the show was a reason for their trip. The game allows players to experience and explore different locations of Paris virtually. By navigating life in Paris, similar to the main character's, players can gain a sense of the city's ambience, landmarks and lifestyle to inspire them to visit. Through the immersion of a destination's unique attractions and culture in these types of interactive games, DMOs can leverage storytelling to enhance their campaigns and inspire travel decisions.
With growing interest in streaming and gaming combined, there is an opportunity for destinations to capitalise on the success of streaming content. By creating TV content and integrating it into a participatory marketing platform, destinations can drive engagement and push audiences further down the marketing funnel toward the next action. This approach leverages the immersive nature of streaming content while adding interactive elements of gaming that invite audiences to become active participants rather than passive viewers.
By creating compelling TV content and integrating it with a participatory, gamified marketing platform, destinations can transform the traditional viewer journey into an active, multi-stage engagement process. This approach creates a seamless funnel that guides audiences from passive consumption to travel decisions and booking activities:
The influence of Gen Z and Gen Alpha cannot be understated. These generations, with their digital fluency and gaming lifestyles, demand innovative and immersive experiences that extend beyond traditional marketing strategies.
By embracing gamified campaigns, virtual worlds and interactive storytelling, destinations can connect with these young consumers on a deeper level, sparking both virtual and in-destination exploration. As gaming continues to evolve as a central element of their lives, the tourism industry must adapt to meet their expectations, offering authentic and engaging experiences that align with their values.
Gaming should be seen as a long-term marketing tool that builds communities rather than just a short-term campaign. The evolution from one-off games to integrated experiences demonstrates how destinations can create lasting connections with these generations, building brand loyalty and driving visitation over time. Here are some of our tips for how DMOs can tap into this growing demand to build high-performance game-based marketing campaigns:
As two of the most influential and digitally immersed generations, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are reshaping how DMOs interact with gamified storytelling. Born into the digital age, these generations exhibit unique preferences, values and behaviours that significantly impact how they travel.
With X. Design Week approaching, here at the Digital Tourism Think Tank, we have been exploring generational characteristics in the midst of preparing for our Generational Intelligence sprint. We've examined the characteristics of both generations and their shared affinity for gaming and immersive experiences, evaluating how DMOs are leveraging these trends to encourage digital engagement that inspires travel.
While Gen Alpha is still an emerging market, it represents a strategic focus for forward-thinking destinations. DMOs need to prepare now for these digitally immersed audiences whose relationship with technology will fundamentally shape their travel expectations and decisions. As gaming's influence in tourism continues to grow, destinations that fail to engage with these platforms risk missing crucial opportunities to connect with these future travellers.
Born between 2013 and 2024, Gen Alpha is the first generation entirely born and raised in the digital era, representing approximately 2 billion people. Their relationship with technology begins early, with 58% owning smartphones by age 10 and possessing as many digital devices as adults by age 13. Following COVID-19 uncertainty, they've developed consumer habits similar to the Silent Generation phenomenon, with Millennial parents focused on fulfilling their consumer desires. This gives Gen Alpha remarkable spending influence, estimated at $300 billion annually through parental income, with 28% of Millennial parents globally subscribing to monthly e-gaming services for their children (as of October 2024).
Gen Z (born 1997-2012) makes purchasing decisions quickly with more information, being both tech-integrated and socially responsible. As they enter adulthood their spending power is increasing. However, having matured during the pandemic they have fostered a defensive financial mindset, with 43% cutting back on non-essential spending, reflecting their value of economic resilience over impulsive consumption.
To successfully engage both Gen Alpha and Gen Z, DMOs must adopt a highly curated approach tailored to each generation's distinct behaviours. For Gen Alpha, this means understanding their evolving spending influence and targeting not just them but also their Millennial parents, who ultimately make purchasing activities on their behalf. On the other hand, capturing the interest of Gen Z requires campaigns that align with their values, particularly financial pragmatism and social responsibility. By crafting authentic and purpose-driven marketing strategies, DMOs can effectively inspire them to consider and commit to travel expenses.
Despite their different digital behaviours, both generations show remarkably high engagement with gaming, with statistics showing that 90% of Gen Z and 93% of Gen Alpha play games regularly. This shared affinity creates a unique opportunity for destinations to engage with these audiences through carefully crafted gaming experiences.
Despite potential digital fatigue from online learning, playing games is Gen Alpha's and Gen Z's second most popular activity, outranking seeing friends in person. Research suggests that this is because the avatars in these games allow them to express themselves and socialise without feeling self-conscious. They are redefining traditional gaming by using it as a primary means of social engagement, digital interaction, self-expression and creativity.
The gaming industry is set for continued growth, with global gaming revenue projected to reach £257 billion by 2028. Games transcend traditional marketing boundaries by creating memorable, immersive experiences that traditional advertising cannot match. Gamification significantly enhances engagement, with campaigns featuring gamified elements experiencing a 100%-150% increase in user interaction. This cultural shift and self-perception could have strong implications for how DMOs engage with these generations. They might need to consider more immersive digital experiences to engage them online before they even begin to inspire them to explore real-world destinations. The most popular games fall into three key categories:
More specifically, the top three computer games are Minecraft, Roblox and Fortnite, offering customisable avatars, social events and the ability to build and explore virtual worlds with friends. Many destinations are embracing this trend by launching marketing campaigns within these popular game titles.
Best practices for destinations involve creating complete virtual experiences, not just individual games. Tourism New Zealand's groundbreaking partnership with Minecraft exemplifies the strategic potential of such experiences, enabling users to play and explore at the same time. As the first national tourism organisation to create a fully playable version of their country within the Minecraft universe, Tourism New Zealand has developed the Aotearoa New Zealand DLC. The game features six iconic locations, each offering activities mirroring real-world experiences.
Coinciding with the release of A Minecraft Movie — which was filmed in New Zealand — the initiative strategically targets Minecraft's massive player base. By creating this immersive virtual experience that authentically captures the country's intrinsic nature, Tourism New Zealand has effectively positioned itself to convert virtual exploration into actual visitation, offering a blueprint for destinations seeking to engage Gen Alpha and Gen Z through gaming.
Rather than simply creating promotional content, Tourism New Zealand has collaborated with eleven mana whenua (Māori groups) and Māori game design studio Piki Studios to ensure cultural authenticity, with players beginning their journey with a traditional welcome on a marae. This comprehensive approach is projected to generate £50 million in visitor spending and an additional £50 million in advertising value, demonstrating the substantial return on investment that gaming can bring as a marketing platform for destinations.
Turismo de Andalucía is another noteworthy example of a destination capitalising on the power of Minecraft as a marketing platform. Having virtually recreated Andalusia in the game, the DMO's approach leverages the growth of popular streaming channels, such as Twitch, by working with gaming influencers to promote the region. Through organising a gaming competition, the DMO brought together multiple influencers, with the winner gaining the opportunity to gift two trips to Andalucia to their followers.
With 2.5 million concurrent viewers and 1.83 billion hours watched (in January 2025), Twitch offers a strategic opportunity for DMOs to tap into this captive audience of gaming aficionados, ultimately improving their brand recognition as a vibrant destination for younger travellers. YouGov research even shows how gaming influencers are among the most admired and reach an untapped audience, with 12% of viewers not following another type of influencer.
Roblox serves as a modern version of Second Life, offering a low-tech yet highly immersive way for destinations to engage audiences. DCT Abu Dhabi has introduced virtual reality tours of Yas Island in Roblox. This initiative allows virtual travellers worldwide to explore Yas Island’s attractions without leaving their homes. Users’ digital avatars can embark on a journey through key Abu Dhabi landmarks. Spanning 25 square kilometres of digitised experiences, the virtual environment offers a playable and socially engaging world designed for global audiences. Players can engage in interactive experiences, immersive environments and games, with the ability to explore and even build cultural and entertainment attractions.
Similarly, 'Qatar Adventure', allows users to explore various Qatari locations and participate in minigames. Having attracted more than seven million visits in only eight weeks upon first launching, with 87% of in-game respondents becoming interested in visiting Qatar, a second chapter of the game introduced a tycoon game mechanic, enabling users to build their own virtual Qatar with iconic attractions. The inclusion of a permanent storefront for authentic digital Middle Eastern goods — replicating the Souq Waqif marketplace — allowed users to interact with traditional Qatari items and even sample virtual fares.
Beyond the Middle East, Go Tokyo launched the HELLO! TOKYO FRIENDS immersive experience in Roblox, featuring different worlds that show the city’s evolution over time, from the samurai culture of 'Edo Tokyo' and 'Retro Tokyo' in the late 19th and 20th century to 'Modern Tokyo'. The 'Tama & Tokyo Islands' world adds an additional element, leveraging gaming to address regionality and encourage the spread of travellers into the city's rural surroundings.
In the most recent addition to the HELLO! TOKYO FRIENDS Roblox universe, the DMO launched a 'Future Tokyo' world, where players can visit the 'Future Mobility Lab' to design and customise their own flying cars and test drive their creations by racing against their friends. Taking things to the next level, the Roblox world can even be connected to reality by incorporating an AR experience that can be accessed through the 'TOKYO HUNT' web app, enabling travellers to drive their car across the city skyline. The web app acts as a companion for an AR sightseeing tour of Tokyo, connecting reality with the characters from Roblox. This also serves an additional purpose, namely encouraging gamers to take sharable photos and videos for social media. As an added incentive, exclusive Roblox items can be claimed by travellers who have visited Tokyo by using the app to check-in at different locations.
Since its launch in 2017, Fortnite has influenced popular culture, attracting attention from global brands such as Disney, Nike and Marriott. The Kusatsu Onsen Tourism Association exemplifies how destinations can leverage this platform, promoting their Yubatake and Netsu-no-yu hot spring resorts through Fortnite. Tenshabi Studio has virtually recreated these iconic landmarks, introducing them to a new demographic, both in Japan and globally. This approach shows how virtual spaces can introduce real destinations to digitally native younger audiences, highlighting how DMOs can meet potential travellers in the spaces they already inhabit.
At a national level, Visit Argentina worked with StadioPlus to develop 'Argentina Parkour Minigames' on Fortnite, highlighting the most iconic locations in the country across seven distinct regions. Through challenges, gamers are fully immersed in the diverse landscapes of the country, bringing the distinctive appeal of the country to life as an adventure destination. Building on its success, a second iteration of these minigames added three regions to this interactive gaming environment. Such actions show the increasing value of branded games for destination marketing and tapping into audiences from an early age, with people's values shaping their decisions later in life.
Going beyond the main gaming platforms, some DMOs have invested in building their own gamified destination discovery experiences. A notable example is Explore Wales in the Metaverse, which lets players build itineraries while collecting dragons and learning about Welsh sights and culture. This combination of building itineraries and collecting dragons shows a complete experience design, where learning about must-visit attractions in an immersive environment bridges virtual and physical exploration.
Likewise, The Great Big Kentucky Adventure is an interactive game allowing players to explore Kentucky's biggest attractions through themed levels inspired by real locations. Characters jump through obstacles, collect cookies and fight monsters, with the entire experience designed to be immersive and interactive. Each of the twelve cities featured in the game has its own dedicated page to connect the virtual experience with planning a real-world trip to the attractions that inspired each level of the game.
DMOs should also consider how the destination itself can form part of a wider set of gamified destination experiences. This is to highlight the importance of capitalising on gaming culture and strategically promoting these experiences as a space for community. The Kingdom Come Deliverance Live project, supported by CzechTourism, capitalises on the success of the Kingdom Come: Deliverance games by providing immersive, gamified experiences in the real locations that influenced the game. This initiative enables visitors to delve into the rich medieval history of the Czech Republic.
Gaming also provides many opportunities for destinations to host events. While most popular games have dedicated competitions, this year Saudi Arabia is set to host the first Esports Olympic Games and aims to build a world-class gaming industry as part of its ambition to become a global hub for gaming and esports. This initiative focuses on fostering a gaming community, while also securing large-scale esports events. By hosting the Esports Olympic Games, the country aims to attract international gaming communities and position itself as a major tourism destination for gaming experiences.
As Gen Alpha has a significant influence on their parents' spending habits, they are often the key decision-makers when choosing a family holiday destination. However, not all destinations are capitalising on this. A strong example of a destination successfully engaging with this trend is Turismo de Canarias, which has partnered with Roblox to promote environmental awareness among these younger generations.
Find the Seasouls is an interactive experience designed to inspire Gen Alpha to care for the environment on a holiday. Players use their avatars to explore the eight Canary Islands by visiting different landscapes. Their mission is to find and engage with the 160 Seasouls, which are special characters representing the region's wildlife.
This is an excellent example of how destinations can align with the values of Gen Alpha, reinforcing their commitment to environmental responsibility. With 30% of Gen Alpha stating they want to make a difference and prioritise sustainability, campaigns like this resonate deeply with them. The game highlights local wildlife and encourages travellers to be more mindful of their surroundings during their stay.
The educational impact of teaching about conservation through gaming shows how destinations can promote responsible tourism while creating experiences that bridge generations by appealing to environmentally conscious values shared across age groups. Additionally, as key decision makers in most purchases made by their Millennial parents, Gen Alpha is likely to influence their families to choose destinations that reflect their values.
DMOs don't need full game development capabilities to create engaging gamified experiences. Find your Freedom, a gamified video campaign from Cape Town Tourism, demonstrates how destinations can incorporate interactive game elements in their marketing strategies. The campaign features a storyteller who leads viewers to engage and select character options divided into three communities of travellers: 'Nature Warriors', 'Urban Adventurers' and 'Fearless Foodies'.
These characters act as guides for a digital journey through Cape Town's culture and attractions, with viewers selecting which character they want to be and exploring that segment, placing them in charge of interacting with the content they want to see. The game concludes with an encouragement to book a trip and provides links to finalise travel purchases to drive conversion.
Similarly, the Singapore Tourism Board's TikTok campaign, The Journey: Singapore, shows how social media can be gamified without building a traditional game. The campaign features six Australian influencers competing for the title of 'The Destination's Most Viral Creator', with the winner gifting one of their followers a trip for two to Singapore. By using influencers and interactive challenges, the campaign creates engagement through gamified social media content.
The series explored the influencers' journey throughout Singapore as they completed four interactive challenges in six days. Capitalising on Singapore as a culinary hub, one of the challenges had creators taste and recreate traditional dishes, showcasing the destination's gastronomy. This approach effectively engages Gen Z travellers who seek unique and budget-friendly experiences and look to social media for holiday inspiration. Additionally, influencer partnerships within gamified campaigns can amplify reach and authenticity, particularly with Gen Z audiences who view content creators as trusted peers rather than advertisers.
Beyond high-performance gaming, there is a growing trend toward more accessible, everyday gaming experiences. Contrary to the assumption that gaming is limited to young people, platforms like Netflix are expanding their reach by integrating a broad spectrum of games on the platform that appeal to a much wider audience. These games are divided into genres and cover categories like action, adventure and puzzles.
This broadening of gaming experiences presents new opportunities for destination storytelling. As we highlighted recently, streaming platforms are already key players in destination marketing. Integrating interactive gaming elements can create deeper engagement through popular shows that have inspired jet-setting. For example, the Netflix series Emily in Paris has inspired Emily in Paris the mobile game. The show has played a big role in inspiring tourism to Paris, with 40% of visitors in 2024 citing that the show was a reason for their trip. The game allows players to experience and explore different locations of Paris virtually. By navigating life in Paris, similar to the main character's, players can gain a sense of the city's ambience, landmarks and lifestyle to inspire them to visit. Through the immersion of a destination's unique attractions and culture in these types of interactive games, DMOs can leverage storytelling to enhance their campaigns and inspire travel decisions.
With growing interest in streaming and gaming combined, there is an opportunity for destinations to capitalise on the success of streaming content. By creating TV content and integrating it into a participatory marketing platform, destinations can drive engagement and push audiences further down the marketing funnel toward the next action. This approach leverages the immersive nature of streaming content while adding interactive elements of gaming that invite audiences to become active participants rather than passive viewers.
By creating compelling TV content and integrating it with a participatory, gamified marketing platform, destinations can transform the traditional viewer journey into an active, multi-stage engagement process. This approach creates a seamless funnel that guides audiences from passive consumption to travel decisions and booking activities:
The influence of Gen Z and Gen Alpha cannot be understated. These generations, with their digital fluency and gaming lifestyles, demand innovative and immersive experiences that extend beyond traditional marketing strategies.
By embracing gamified campaigns, virtual worlds and interactive storytelling, destinations can connect with these young consumers on a deeper level, sparking both virtual and in-destination exploration. As gaming continues to evolve as a central element of their lives, the tourism industry must adapt to meet their expectations, offering authentic and engaging experiences that align with their values.
Gaming should be seen as a long-term marketing tool that builds communities rather than just a short-term campaign. The evolution from one-off games to integrated experiences demonstrates how destinations can create lasting connections with these generations, building brand loyalty and driving visitation over time. Here are some of our tips for how DMOs can tap into this growing demand to build high-performance game-based marketing campaigns:
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