CANNES, France -- Luxury travel and the growing emphasis on experiences over things has created an ecosystem worth $1.54 trillion a year, a size comparable to the GDP of one of the world’s top 15 economies, according to a new report.

The study, conducted by Barton Consulting and Wealth-X for the International Luxury Travel Market, claims to be the first to actually measure what it calls the “global luxury travel ecosystem,” or the collection of experiences related to travel, such as food and drink, cultural activities, wellness, sporting events, performing arts and outdoor pursuits.

Its authors said it underscores the need for travel advisors to expand their services beyond the traditional accommodation and air bookings.

“The reason why this ecosystem is so important to the luxury travel industry,” the report said, “is that more and more of these wealthy individuals are seeking curated travel adventures tailored by advisors who know them well, know what they care about and are passionate for.

“Increasingly, they are needing travel designers and those in positions of influence in destinations to open their eyes to the full potential of these places. They seek variety and authenticity, and more and more of them are seeing a luxury resort as a springboard. Instead of identifying a ‘luxury hotel’ as an end in itself, they are using it as a gateway to experiences that, until now, many travel advisors may not have considered part of their role.”

The $1.54 trillion is exclusive of lodging and airfare, and the report does not detail which experiences might or might not be commissionable. The largest spend is on food and drink, but other more potentially commissionable services, such as cultural activities and wellness, also represent a sizeable portion.

At the same time, the report underscores how much the wealthy contribute to the traditional travel economy. According to Wealth-X, there are 22.8 million people in the world with a net worth of more than $1 million.

“Travel is one of the most important sectors of spend for the ‘$1M-plus club,’” the report states, adding that high net worth individuals spend on average about $30,000 per year on travel, primarily in the luxury segment. Of the $1.41 trillion spent annually on lodging and air travel, about 36% comes from that sector.

To size the broader ecosystem exclusive of air and lodging, Barton said it used a combination of proprietary data on wealthy individuals from Wealth-X, including population, wealth and interests as well as statistical insight from industry sources on ecosystem activities.

The activities were sized by sourcing industry data on annual revenue and statistics on international inbound tourism in the top 50 most visited countries. Using secondary data on tourism contributions to these economies, Barton said it was able to estimate the contribution to these activities from international tourists. It then estimated the likely contribution made by the 22.8 million individuals in the world who Wealth-X estimates have a net worth of $1 million or more.