Young UAE residents shift spending toward experiences over possessions, survey finds

Seventy-five percent of UAE residents say they are more willing than ever to seek out and spend on experiences, according to a UAE Experience Survey, and the numbers behind that finding are striking. Eight in 10 respondents set aside a specific budget for experiences after covering basic monthly expenses, with entertainment, dining and travel among the biggest categories. Visa research adds another layer: 43 percent of UAE travellers cite experiences as a key motivation for travel, with spending time with family and friends ranking even higher.

For younger residents, the pattern sharpens considerably. Research on UAE Gen Z travellers found that many are willing to cut back on shopping to make room for meaningful trips, while cultural discovery, adventure and simply escaping everyday routine have become central to how they think about travel. The question driving spending decisions has shifted. Rather than asking “What can I buy?” young people increasingly ask “What can I do?”

The practical logic is not complicated. Most young people already own more than they need. Open a typical wardrobe and there are clothes forgotten in piles. Phone screenshots document products considered and reconsidered. Rooms hold items that seemed essential online but unnecessary weeks later. Experiences work differently. A sunset does not sit in a cupboard gathering dust. A pottery class tried on a Tuesday night does not fade from memory the way shoes purchased on sale do.

Something deeper is happening beyond practicality, though. Experiences become stories, and stories become the narratives through which people understand themselves. “I went to Japan.” “I finally learned how to dive.” “I saw my favourite artist live.” “I drove to the desert at 5am just because we could.” These moments become pieces of identity in ways that material goods rarely manage. A handbag gets scratched and replaced. A phone becomes obsolete. The ridiculous story about getting lost on a road trip with best friends, by contrast, tends to improve with every retelling.

The UAE context makes this shift particularly visible. Young residents do not need to board a plane to find something new. The country has engineered experiences into everyday life: restaurants, exhibitions, pop-ups, concerts, beach clubs, sporting events, desert activities, wellness classes and temporary attractions appear in constant rotation. When weather permits, a spontaneous plan can be as simple as driving somewhere for sunset. A 2026 Majid Al Futtaim survey found that 47 percent of UAE residents planned to stay in the country over the summer, choosing local options over international travel, which suggests that experiences do not require extravagance. Sometimes it is a staycation. Sometimes it is dinner somewhere new. Sometimes it is sitting on the beach with takeaway coffee for three hours.

Social media shapes how these experiences are valued and pursued. A concert becomes a 15-second reel. A holiday becomes a photo dump. A restaurant becomes a story. A random Saturday becomes a “day in my life.” Research on UAE youth shows how powerfully social media influences consumer decisions, while separate research on young UAE travellers found that Instagram and TikTok shape where some choose to go and what they choose to do. The goal is not always performance. Sometimes it is proof: proof that you went, that you tried something, that you lived a little outside your normal routine. The camera roll becomes a personal archive.

This does not mean young people have stopped buying things. Gen Z and millennials remain major spenders in luxury, beauty, electronics and travel retail. The difference is selectivity. A young person might happily spend 500 dirhams on a concert, then spend the following week avoiding expensive dinners. Someone might save for months for a holiday but buy fewer clothes. Another might skip the latest gadget to fund a weekend away with friends. The shift is less about abandoning possessions and more about becoming intentional with them.

There is something almost ironic about the whole picture. Young people are routinely accused of being glued to their phones, yet many are spending their money trying to create moments worth putting the phone down for. The new measure of status is not necessarily owning the most expensive thing in the room. It is having somewhere to go next weekend. It is knowing the best hidden beach. It is a ridiculous travel story. It is a camera roll that makes you smile when you scroll too far back. For a generation growing up in a country where there is seemingly always something new to discover, the open question is whether this appetite for experience deepens over time or eventually circles back to the things money can buy and keep.