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Three Totally Mind-bending Implications of a Multidimensional Universe

We don’t see or feel more dimensions; nevertheless, theoretical physics predicts that they should exist. interesting, but are there any practical implications can they become part of applied physics.

Nearly a century ago, Edwin Hubble’s discovery of red-shifting of light from galaxies in all directions from our own suggested that space itself was getting bigger. Combined with insights from a handful of proposed non-Euclidean geometries, Hubble’s discovery implied that the cosmos exists in more than the three dimensions we’re familiar with in everyday life.

That’s because parts of the cosmos were moving further apart, yet with no physical center, no origin point in three-dimensional space. Just think of an inflating balloon seen only from the perspective of its growing two-dimensional surface, and extrapolate to four-dimensional inflation perceived in the three-dimensional space that we can see. That perspective suggests that three-dimensional space could be curved, folded, or warped into a 4th dimension the way that the two dimensional surface of a balloon is warped into a 3rd dimension.

We don’t see or feel more dimensions; nevertheless, theoretical physics predicts that they  should  exist. Interesting, but are there any practical implications? Can they become part of  applied  physics?

1. Warp Drive

Teaching about the 4th dimension, physicists have used analogies, like drawings of something called a hypercube, and even the 19th century novella  Flatland  by Edwin Abbott Abbott. The book imagines two-dimensional beings living on a planar world that has only length and width. Unable to perceive a third dimension, the Flatlanders see only one plane of three-dimensional visitors, kind of like how computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging shows the body in slices. Two slices through a leg, one a few millimeters up from the other, look almost the same, but a slice through the waist or chest gives a very different picture. We can relate to this analogy, imagining our three-dimensional environment as just one of an infinite number of slices of a four-dimensional environment.

But moving beyond four dimensions, it gets even weirder, and very hard to visualize. The main theory here is called M theory, which is a theory in physics that unites various types of what’s called superstring theory. In M theory there are a bunch of dimensions, either 10 or 11, depending on who explains it to you. In addition to the three we’re familiar with there are  compact dimensions . It’s all related to phenomena called  branes  that vibrate like strings, but what’s most relevant to this discussion is that the extra or compact dimensions don’t necessarily have to remain compact. Like a jack-in-the box, it might be possible to unpack the extra dimensions, says Richard Obousy, director of  Icarus Interstellar , a non-profit organization promoting starship research.

“If an advanced civilization learns how to manipulate higher dimensions, they might use them for technology, including warp drive,” Obousy noted to me, the idea being that some kind of controlled decompacting of extra dimensions could have the effect of squeezing or expanding one of the three big dimensions that we know. Engage the compacting effect in front of a starship and the expansion effect to the rear, and you’d have warp drive, like I discussed in a previous post.

But don’t start packing for your Alpha Centauri vacation just yet, because there’s one tiny little complication, which Obousy is the first to admit. So far, we don’t have a shred of evidence that the hypothesized extra dimensions even exist. Someday, soon, we might get some evidence from the Large Hadron Collider, but even then it’s anyone’s guess whether that would lead to a warp drive technology.

2. Time Travel

Time is usually considered a dimension, even if not a spatial dimension, and we’re certainly moving along the time axis just fine. We don’t possess technology to go backward and change history.  If  we could find a way to go through other dimensions, the balloon analogy tells us it should allow a kind of tunneling to locations that look distant from the perspective of the three dimensions that we perceive.

It is far less clear, however, whether we could tunnel into other time periods, future or past. Any fans of Star Trek know that the philosophy of time travel into the past is mind-boggling, because you could change history, prevent the series of events that caused your existence in the first place, yada, yada, yada. But time travel to the future – accelerating from the usual move into the future of one minute per minute, one year per year – requires no philosophy. Moreover, we know how to do it.

It’s called  time dilation , it’s predicted by Einstein’s theory of special relativity, and it will happen, if we accelerate a spacecraft to a significant fraction of the speed of light. Travel very close to the speed of light ( c ), and time slows down from your perspective and the slowing is quantified by a variable known as the  gamma factor . On a ship moving just under 0.87c, the gamma factor = 2; thus, from the perspective of Earth-bound observers, the traveler moves 2 minutes into the future for each minute that seems to go by aboard the ship. At 0.94c, gamma = 3, and it increases more dramatically as the ship approaches light speed asymptotically. At 0.9992c, for instance, gamma reaches 25, which can advance you noticeably into the future if you stay at that speed long enough. Make a round-trip to the star Vega, located 25 light-years away, and two years will pass by for you and your friends aboard the ship (you’ll age two years and accumulate two years of memories), but arriving on Earth you’ll find that you’ve jumped ahead by a half-century.

It really would happen; we’re certain, because time dilation has been proven with subatomic particles in accelerators. We can’t do it right now with people, but the capability for relativistic velocities is only a matter of time (excuse the pun), since it could happen with technology that may be just over the horizon, namely nuclear fusion.

3. Traversable Wormholes

Another means of transport made possible by a multidimensional cosmos is wormholes. When Carl Sagan needed a realistic way for humans to travel interstellar distances for his story  Contact , he  consulted  theoretical physicist Kip Thorne. Working with a couple of his best graduate students at the California Institute of Technology,  Thorne worked out the equations  showing that, indeed, there was a way: a stable, traversable wormhole, or even a system of such tunnels linking different areas of space-time.

This was more than a decade before Miguel Alcubierre would demonstrate that Einstein’s general relativity theory allowed for Star Trek-style warp drive, so Sagan saw the wormhole concept as the only scientifically-valid means by which his protagonist, Ellie Arroway, could be shuttled through the galaxy quickly enough to meet storyline demands.

An advanced civilization could build a system of wormhole-dependent tunnels connecting different points of the space-time fabric, essentially drawing the departure and arrival points in the fabric into close proximity to one another through a 4th dimension. If we could do it, we could have an entry portal nearby, somewhere in the inner Solar System, that leads to an exit point at our destination, for instance a nearby star system with an Earth-like planet. In science fiction, it’s the concept of a star gate.

Because of mathematically complex findings derived from equations in general relativity known as the Einstein field equations, technology that can warp space, whether for warp drive or traversable wormholes, would require a phenomenon called negative energy. Intuitively it is difficult to visualize what negative energy is, but its existence is consistent with a well-established area of physics known as quantum field theory. In fact, using the technology of quantum optics and a phenomenon called the Casimir effect, physicists have actually produced a kind of negative energy already in tiny quantities (negative vacuum energy). Nature produces it in big quantities, but only by using huge concentrations of gravity, which we can’t produce artificially.

According to Eric Davis, Senior Research Physicist at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Austin, Texas, who is an expert on faster-than-light propulsion concepts, the most promising way to do this is with a quantum optic device called a Ford-Svaiter mirror. It’s not something that anyone has built yet, but it  can  be built. It would concentrate the negative vacuum energy. If you do it with a small Ford-Svaiter mirror, it would produce a mini-wormhole, but Davis says that the device could then be scaled up to make wormholes bigger and bigger, eventually big enough for a spaceship to enter. Navigation to find an exit point would be tricky at first, but it’s theoretically possible to place the Ford-Svaiter mirrors in different points to create a kind of tuner, for instance from somewhere near Earth to a point near an Earth-like planet in a nearby star system.

Once the first wormhole is built with stable entry and exit points we’d have a way to go back and forth between Earth and our first interstellar destination. We could explore that star system, and no doubt we would do so particularly if it contains a habitable planet that we could colonize, but we could also use it as a staging point to go further. Thus, little by little, we could create wormhole network of sorts, in our little corner of the galaxy.

Or, perhaps, at some point, our tunneling might tap into an already existing network similar to what Sagan imagined. In that case, we’d better make sure to learn the rules, for there might be traffic.

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Buy 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel

About this game, what is it.

• Sharpen your tactics by solving a collection of multiverse chess puzzles.
• Practice against four different AI personalities, each with different strengths and styles.
• Try out a variety of different starting positions and scenarios.
• Play online with your friends or against strangers.

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• Learn as you go. An intuitive interface makes experimentation quick and easy.
• Visualize how your pieces move with highly-polished diagrams and views.
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• Graphics: OpenGL 3.3 compatibility (everything since about 2010).
• Storage: 50 MB available space
• OS: 10.9 or newer. 64-bit.
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Multidimensional Travel: A Gateway into Expanded Consciousness

Read the full digital issue.

By Susan Nicholas, MD

In September of 2012 I experienced my conscious awakening with the ability to leave my body and travel into multiple dimensions. The spontaneous separations I have sustained over the years are a form of out-of-body travel that many associate with near death experiences. My lifting off point, however, came from a profound sadness that I had carried within me since childhood—a deep emptiness, a crevasse void. My conscious awakening did not present as a fatal cancer diagnosis or a perceived accident, but rather from a profound hollowness resonating from the recesses of my soul.

On that transformative evening in 2012 I came to a crossroads in life where I wanted to no longer exist. I honestly feared that I wasn’t going to make it. At that time I had a two-year-old son I didn’t want to abandon as my own mother had abandoned me. You see, my soulful void was a result of a life devoid of motherly love. I felt disconnected from life and struggled to find any semblance of happiness or fulfillment here on Earth. Though I felt ready to go, my toddler son served as a tether, obligating me to complete my soul’s contract in our shared third dimensional world. It was imperative that I “wake up” to consciousness in order to go on living. It was indeed a matter of life or death that I know why I am here and what is my purpose.

If my experience is any indication, multidimensional travel is a dormant ability each of us possesses. It is the ability to separate from the physical body while the soul journeys. This ability is encoded in our DNA framework, but it lies inactive because we have forgotten who we are. On Earth today we are awake to our contrived realities but remain asleep to our higher selves. Multidimensional travel is a gateway into heightened awareness and expanded consciousness. This latent ability of soul travel, however, must be awakened to be experienced.

Past generations foretold life-long study and dedicated meditation to access this sacred aspect of beingness. Today, with the accelerated awakening of planet Earth, we can access this passageway into the beyond through the process of introspection. In this way, the metaphysical properties of our higher selves can be realized. The portal by which the soul travels is accessed through our conscious dream state.

To begin awakening this forgotten aspect of your beingness, you must journey inward toward discovery of your higher self. The introspective process begins with accepting that you are infinitely more than your physical body and that reality is a concept far beyond our physical world. The inner journey will reveal challenges you must overcome to awaken your metaphysical powers. You will be asked to forgive yourself and others of past transgressions and, in doing so, feel compassion for all sentient beings. You will be tasked with transmuting fears and doubts that have held you back from living your divine purpose. There is a great deal of unlearning that accompanies enlightenment and each test completed on the soul level serves to elevate your vibration toward the flight-enabling frequency.

The introspective path will have you reliving painful memories and feelings to the point that you may fear your heart will break. In this necessary process of feeling and then releasing, you must know with every fiber of your being that you are stronger than any circumstance put before you. You will be called to fully embrace your power and intuitively know with every certainty that you are enough.

Multidimensional travel is a profound and personal passage into expanded realms of consciousness. It is a life-changing phenomenon that shapes your perspective on the entirety of our earthly existence. This manner of energetic travel is available to all who possess the health and energetic frequency to endure a temporary separation from the physical body. Everyone who dreams has the potential within them to travel consciously. The body, however, must be free of common poisons and mind-altering substances to be fully awake consciously while the body rests. It is an intensely personal experience that is born out of deep introspection and the strongest desires to know the truth about our human existence.

Dr. Nicholas is a former clinical fellow in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University and General Surgery resident and research fellow at UCSF Medical Center. Susan is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Medicine (2001) and earned an Executive MBA from Emory University Goizueta Business School (2009). After graduating from business school, Dr. Nicholas founded a healthcare company and worked as a healthcare equity investment analyst. Susan began her career as a pharmacokinetics chemist at Mylan Pharmaceuticals. She is a French language and culture enthusiast, and enjoys organic baking, running, swimming, and playing the violin. Susan lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her son.

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The Multidimensional Traveler: Finding Togetherness or How I Learned to Break the Rules of Physics and Sojourn Across Dimensions and Time Paperback – January 19, 2015

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Discover your own multidimensional abilities and use them to their greatest potential.
• Connect with the force of togetherness to attain the true knowledge of the universe.
• Embark on your own multidimensional ventures, with the assistance of end-of-chapter instructional guides. The Multidimensional Traveler serves as a ticket to the world of limitless possibilities, reminding readers throughout the entire journey that their mind--like their soul--is indestructible, incomprehensible, and incalculable.
• Print length 272 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Weiser
• Publication date January 19, 2015
• Dimensions 6.97 x 0.62 x 8.79 inches
• ISBN-10 9781601633552
• ISBN-13 978-1601633552
• See all details

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About the author, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1601633556
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Weiser; First Edition (January 19, 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781601633552
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1601633552
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.035 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.97 x 0.62 x 8.79 inches
• #208 in Out-of-Body Experiences (Books)
• #364 in Relativity Physics (Books)
• #2,814 in New Thought

About the author

Khartika goe.

Khartika Goe has evolved from a rigorous academic background into ardently writing on the unknown and the mysteries of the universe. She recently went public with her own accounts of dimensional travel in her groundbreaking article, “Adventures in Alternative Realities,” which was published in 16 languages and sold in more than 30 countries by Nexus magazine. Khartika completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California–Los Angeles and pursued graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York before embarking on her research on metaphysical dimensions. She is currently researching how different brain frequencies serve as a portal to other dimensions.

Her website is www.thetogetherness.com

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10 Books That Explore the Multiverse

Emily Martin

Emily has a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, MS, and she has an MFA in Creative Writing from GCSU in Milledgeville, GA, home of Flannery O’Connor. She spends her free time reading, watching horror movies and musicals, cuddling cats, Instagramming pictures of cats, and blogging/podcasting about books with the ladies over at #BookSquadGoals (www.booksquadgoals.com). She can be reached at [email protected].

View All posts by Emily Martin

In this cross-dimensional examination of identity, privilege, race, and belonging, multiverse travel is finally possible—and traversers are in high demand. The only catch: no one can travel to a world where their doppelgänger is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from diseases, from turf wars, from vendettas they couldn't outrun. Of all three hundred and eighty Caras, only eight have survived to adulthood. But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret.

If you’ve ever wondered if we’re currently living in the darkest timeline, then you’ve wondered about the multiverse. If you’ve ever thought about what your life might be like if you had made different choices, then you’ve wondered about the multiverse. Now it’s time to take your wondering to the next level and explore all of the wonders of the multiverse in these ten books. With adult fiction, young adult fiction, middle grade fiction, and nonfiction books all exploring the topic, there’s a multiverse book out there for everyone who wonders.

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

A Thousand Pieces of You is the first book in Claudia Gray’s Firebird series. The novel follows Marguerite Caine, whose physicist parents are well-known for their groundbreaking achievements. They’re most famous for the Firebird, an invention that allows people to jump into other universes. Then Marguerite’s father is murdered and his killer uses the Firebird to escape into another dimension. While law enforcement can’t catch the killer when he’s not even in the same universe anymore, Marguerite refuses to let her father’s murderer go without a fight. And so begins her adventure chasing the killer through multiple universes. And the closer she gets to catching the killer, the more complicated the details of her father’s death become.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

This fast-paced sci-fi thriller starts with a kidnapping. Jason Dessen is knocked unconscious, and when he awakes, the world he is in is not the one he recognizes. His wife is not his wife, his son was never born, and rather than just being a physics professor, he’s a celebrated scientist who has discovered something groundbreaking. Now Jason is struggling to understand if this reality or the one he left behind is a dream. And if the life he left behind is real, how can he return to it?

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar

Unholy Land is set in an alternate universe where a Jewish homeland called “Palestina” has been established in East Africa. Lior Tirosh is a pulp fiction writer with a not-so-impressive publishing record. Tirosh returns home to Palestina from Europe in a time when unrest in Ararat City is growing. Suddenly he finds himself one of the prime suspects in a string of murder cases. And the only way to get himself out of this mess? Without spoiling anything, just know it’s going to involve traveling to alternate universes.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

If you like your multiverses with a healthy dose of romance, This is How You Lose the Time War might just be the book for you. This book follows the story of Red and Blue, two women who are rival agents. They write to one another from opposite ends of the time war. And, yes, you guessed it, they eventually fall in love. This is an oversimplification of what happens in the novel, but this is one that’s best enjoyed if you just let the story wash over you.

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

You know how back when The Jetsons was on TV, people imagined a future where we’d be living in space and driving flying cars by now? Well, in Elan Mastai’s All Our Wrong Todays, that future happened. And Tom Barren is from that future. Then in a time traveling mishap, he somehow ended up in the dystopian world we live in today. In this world, Tom discovers different versions of his family, his career, and the woman he loves. And you know what? Despite how terrible the rest of the world is, Tom realizes this version of reality might just be better for him personally. So now he has a decision to make. Does he try to make life work here in our dystopian world? Or does he return to his utopian reality?

Pivot Point by Kasie West

Pivot Point is another book that’s the first in a series. Addison Coleman is a Searcher, which means whenever she’s faced with a decision, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. When her father and mother decide to get divorced, Addie is faced with a difficult decision. Does she stay with her mother and continue to live the life she’s always known? Or does she go with her father to live life outside of the paranormal compound as a “Norm”? Because she’s happy with her life the way it is, Addie thinks she’ll choose to live with her mother. As she looks into both possible futures, she sees outcomes that are positive and negative on both sides. It all comes down to what she’s willing to live through and who she’s willing to live without.

Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

The Sal & Gabi series are middle grade books that explore the multiverse. In the first book, Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, Sal and Gabi meet in the principal’s office after Sal played a trick on Gabi’s friend Yasmany by putting a raw chicken in her locker. Sal insists that he did it using magic, but Gabi is determined to prove that Sal planted the chicken there when no one was looking. But then Gabi learns Sal’s real trick: he can pull things from other universes. Things much bigger than raw chickens.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

While the other books in the His Dark Materials series explore multiverses a lot more than the first novel, The Golden Compass starts the multiverse conversation. And if you like multiverses that are more fantasy than science fiction, The Golden Compass is a must-read. This story is very popular (for good reason), so you probably already know what this one is about. But in case you’ve somehow missed it, this book follows the adventures of Lyra Belacqua as she journeys North to rescue her friend Roger from the Gobblers. In the North, she’ll also be reunited with her uncle Lord Asriel who is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world. How are these two things connected and why is everyone up North? And what’s with that adorable polar bear on the cover? You’ll have to read it to find out. Seriously, it’s so good.

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

This new duology from Veronica Roth is an adult story looking at what happens to the Chosen Ones after they’ve beaten the bad guy and have to come to terms with living out their adult lives. A decade ago near Chicago, five seemingly normal teenagers—Sloane, Matt, Ines, Albie, and Esther—defeated the Dark One, who brought widespread destruction and death to their world. Now ten years have passed, and while many people seem to have forgotten that dark period in their history, Sloane remembers, and she’s having a hard time moving on. It might be a little bit of a spoiler to explain how this book explores multiverses, so I will leave that part out. I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun with this one.

Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku

If you’re looking for a nonfiction dive into the possibilities of parallel worlds, Michio Kaku’s Parallel Worlds is the book to read. Dr. Kaku is a theoretical physicist, and in his book, he examines black holes, time machines, multidimensional space, and (what you all came here for) the possibility that there are parallel universes happening right alongside our own. This book introduces M-Theory, which posits that our world is just one of many in an endless multiverse.

Looking for more about the Multiverse? Read Your Way Across the Multiverse with these four indie titles about the multiverse (and more).

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Ranking hotels through multi-dimensional hotel information: a method considering travelers’ preferences and expectations

• Original Research
• Published: 07 March 2022
• Volume 24 , pages 127–155, ( 2022 )

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• Jian-Wu Bi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2253-3492 1 ,
• Tian-Yu Han 1 ,
• Yanbo Yao 1 &

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Although travelers tend to consider multi-dimensional hotel information when choosing their accommodation, few online travel agency (OTA) websites allow them to express their preferences and expectations for the selection criteria to obtain customized hotel ranking results. The lack of this function makes travelers have to spend extra time and effort in comparing different hotels to make the final decision. To solve this problem, a hotel ranking method considering travelers’ preferences and expectations is proposed based on multi-dimensional hotel information. In the method, considering the travelers’ actual process of hotel reservation through the OTA website, four types of hotel information (i.e., price, rating, location and text comment) are used. To make full use of these information, text mining, prospect theory and multi-attribute decision-making method are integrated into the proposed method. A case study is given to verify the reliability of the proposed method. The proposed method can be embedded into OTA websites to provide decision support for travelers’ hotel reservation, which will reduce the time spent by travelers in hotel search and comparison, thus effectively promote hotel reservation and improve traveler satisfaction.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (project no. 72101124), Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China (project no. 20YJC630002), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (project nos. 2020T130318 and 2019M661000), the Liberal Arts Development Fund of Nankai University (project no. ZX20210067).

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Bi, JW., Han, TY., Yao, Y. et al. Ranking hotels through multi-dimensional hotel information: a method considering travelers’ preferences and expectations. Inf Technol Tourism 24 , 127–155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-022-00223-y

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Now boarding: Faces, places, and trends shaping tourism in 2024

After falling by 75 percent in 2020, travel is on its way to a full recovery by the end of 2024. Domestic travel is expected to grow 3 percent annually and reach 19 billion lodging nights per year by 2030. 1 Unless otherwise noted, the source for all data and projections is Oxford Economics. Over the same time frame, international travel should likewise ramp up to its historical average of nine billion nights. Spending on travel is expected to follow a similar trajectory, with an estimated $8.6 trillion in traveler outlays in 2024, representing roughly 9 percent of this year’s global GDP.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Caroline Tufft , Margaux Constantin , Matteo Pacca , and Ryan Mann , with Ivan Gladstone and Jasperina de Vries, representing views from McKinsey’s Travel, Logistics & Infrastructure Practice.

There’s no doubt people still love to travel and will continue to seek new experiences in new places. But where will travelers come from, and where will they go? We developed a snapshot of current traveler flows, along with estimates for growth through 2030. For the purposes of this report, we have divided the world into four regions—the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.

Our analysis identifies three major themes for industry stakeholders to consider:

• The bulk of travel spending is close to home. Stakeholders should ensure they capture the full potential of domestic travel before shifting their focus to international travelers. And they should start with international travelers who visit nearby countries—as intraregional trips represent the largest travel segment after domestic trips.
• Source markets are shifting. Although established source markets continue to anchor global travel, Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia are all becoming fast-growing sources of outbound tourism.
• The destinations of the future may not be the ones you imagine. Alongside enduring favorites, places that weren’t on many tourists’ maps are finding clever ways to lure international travelers and establish themselves as desirable destinations.

The bulk of travel spending is close to home

International travel might feel more glamorous, but tourism players should not forget that domestic travel still represents the bulk of the market, accounting for 75 percent of global travel spending (Exhibit 1). Domestic travel recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic faster than international travel, as is typical coming out of downturns. And although there has been a recent boom in “revenge travel,” with travelers prioritizing international trips that were delayed by the pandemic, a return to prepandemic norms, in which domestic travel represents 70 percent of spending, is expected by 2030.

The United States is the world’s largest domestic travel market at $1 trillion in annual spending. Sixty-eight percent of all trips that start in the United States remain within its borders. Domestic demand has softened slightly, as American travelers return abroad. 2 Dawit Habtemariam, “Domestic U.S. tourism growth levels off as Americans head overseas,” Skift, August 18, 2023. But tourism players with the right offerings are still thriving: five national parks broke attendance records in 2023 (including Joshua Tree National Park, which capitalized on growing interest from stargazers indulging in “dark sky” tourism 3 Scott McConkey, “5 national parks set attendance records in 2023, and the reasons may surprise you,” Wealth of Geeks, April 16, 2024. ).

China’s $744 billion domestic travel market is currently the world’s second largest. Chinese travelers spent the pandemic learning to appreciate the diversity of experiences on offer within their own country. Even as borders open back up, Chinese travelers are staying close to home. And domestic destinations are benefiting: for example, Changchun (home to the Changchun Ice and Snow Festival) realized 160 percent year-on-year growth in visitors in 2023. 4 Shi Xiaoji, “Why don’t Chinese people like to travel abroad anymore? The global tourism industry has lost 900 billion yuan. What is the situation?,” NetEase, February 12, 2024. In 2024, domestic travel during Lunar New Year exceeded prepandemic levels by 19 percent.

China’s domestic travel market is expected to grow 12 percent annually and overtake the United States’ to become the world’s largest by 2030. Hotel construction reflects this expectation: 30 percent of the global hotel construction pipeline is currently concentrated in China. The pipeline is heavily skewed toward luxury properties, with more than twice as many luxury hotels under construction in China as in the United States.

India, currently the world’s sixth-largest domestic travel market by spending, is another thriving area for domestic travel. With the subcontinent’s growing middle class powering travel spending growth of roughly 9 percent per year, India’s domestic market could overtake Japan’s and Mexico’s to become the world’s fourth largest by 2030. Domestic air passenger traffic in India is projected to double by 2030, 5 Murali Krishnan, “Can India’s airports cope with rapid passenger growth?,” Deutsche Welle, February 7, 2024. boosted in part by a state-subsidized initiative that aims to connect underserved domestic airports. 6 “India is seeing a massive aviation boom,” Economist , November 23, 2023.

When travelers do go abroad, they often stay close to home (Exhibit 2).

Europe and Asia, in particular, demonstrate strong and growing intraregional travel markets.

Recognizing this general trend, stakeholders have been funneling investment toward regional tourism destinations. An Emirati wealth fund, for instance, has announced its intent to invest roughly $35 billion into established hospitality properties and development opportunities in Egypt. 7 Michael Gunn and Mirette Magdy, “UAE’s $35 billion Egypt deal marks Gulf powers’ buying spree,” Bloomberg, April 27, 2024.

Europe has long played host to a high share of intraregional travel. Seventy percent of its travelers’ international trips stay within the region. Europe’s most popular destinations for intraregional travelers are perennial warm-weather favorites—Spain (18 percent), Italy (10 percent), and France (8 percent)—with limited change to these preferences expected between now and 2030.

Despite longer travel distances between Asian countries, Asia’s intraregional travel market is beginning to resemble Europe’s. Intraregional travel currently accounts for about 60 percent of international trips in Asia—a share expected to climb to 64 percent by 2030. As in Europe in past decades, Asian intraregional travel is benefiting from diminishing visa barriers and the development of a low-cost, regional flight network.

Thailand is projected to enjoy continued, growing popularity with Asian travelers. Thailand waived visa requirements for Chinese tourists in 2023 and plans to do the same for Indian tourists starting in 2024. It has aggressively targeted the fast-growing Indian traveler segment, launching more than 50 marketing campaigns directed at Indians over the past decade. The investment may be paying off: Bangkok recently overtook Dubai as the most popular city destination for Indian tourists. 8 “Bangkok overtakes Dubai as top destination for Indians post visa relaxation, reveals Agoda,” PR Newswire, January 18, 2024.

A McKinsey ConsumerWise survey on consumer sentiment, conducted in February 2024, suggests that Chinese travelers are also exhibiting high interest in international travel, with 36 percent of survey respondents indicating that they intend to spend more on international travel in the next three months. 9 Daniel Zipser, “ China brief: Consumers are spending again (outside of China) ,” McKinsey, April 8, 2024. Much of this interest is directed toward regional destinations such as Southeast Asia and Japan, with interest in travel to Europe down from previous years. 10 Guang Chen, Zi Chen, Steve Saxon, and Jackey Yu, “ Outlook for China tourism 2023: Light at the end of the tunnel ,” McKinsey, May 9, 2023.

Given travelers’ preference for proximity, how can tourism stakeholders further capitalize on domestic and intraregional travel demand? Here are a few strategies:

• Craft offerings that encourage domestic tourists to rediscover local gems. Destinations, hotels, and transportation providers can encourage domestic tourists to integrate lesser-known cultural landmarks into their trips to visit friends and relatives. In France, the upscale hotel chain Relais & Châteaux markets historic properties that lie far from classic tourist sights—such as Château Saint-Jean in rural Auvergne—as a welcome escape from the bustle of Paris. In Mexico, the Pueblos Mágicos program has successfully boosted domestic tourist visits to a set of “magical towns” that showcase Mexican heritage.
• Fold one-off domestic destinations into fuller itineraries. Route 66 in the United States is a classic road trip pathway, which spurs visits to attractions all along the highway’s length. Tourism stakeholders can collaborate to create similar types of domestic itineraries around the world. For instance, Mexico has expanded on its Pueblos Mágicos concept by branding coordinated visits to multiple villages as “magical routes.” In France, local tourism boards and vineyards have collaborated to promote bucket list “wine routes” around the country.
• Make crossing borders into neighboring countries seamless. Removing logistical barriers to travel can nudge tourists to upgrade a one-off trip to a single attraction into a bucket list journey across multiple, less-trodden destinations. In Africa, for example, Ethiopian Airlines is facilitating cross-border travel to major regional tourist sites through improved air connectivity. In Asia, Thailand has announced its intent to create a joint visa easing travel among Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Source markets are shifting

The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, and France remain the world’s five largest sources of travelers, in that order. These countries collectively accounted for 38 percent of international travel spending in 2023 and are expected to remain the top five source markets through 2030. But interest in travel is blossoming in other parts of the world—causing a shift in the balance of outbound travel flows (Exhibit 3).

North Americans’ travel spending is projected to hold steady at roughly 3 percent annual growth. US consumers voice growing concerns about inflation, and the most cost-constrained traveler segments are reducing travel, which is affecting ultra-low-cost airlines and budget hotels. Most travelers, however, plan to continue traveling: McKinsey research suggests that American consumers rank international and domestic travel as their highest-priority areas for discretionary spending. Instead of canceling their trips, these consumers are adapting their behavior by traveling during off-peak periods or booking travel further in advance. Travel spending by Europeans paints a slightly rosier picture, with roughly 5 percent projected annual growth. Meanwhile, the projected 12 percent annual growth in Chinese travelers’ spending should anchor substantial increases in travel spending across Northeast Asia.

Alongside these enduring traveler segments, new groups of travelers are emerging. Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia are still comparatively small source markets, but they are developing fast-growing pools of first-time tourists (Exhibit 4).

India’s breakneck GDP growth of 6 percent year over year is bolstering a new generation of travelers, 11 Benjamin Laker, “India will grow to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027,” Forbes , February 23, 2024. resulting in a projected annual growth in travel spending of 9 percent between now and 2030. Indian air carriers and lodging companies are making substantial investments to meet projected demand. Budget airline IndiGo placed the largest aircraft order in commercial aviation history in 2023, when it pledged to buy 500 Airbus A320 planes 12 Anna Cooban, “Biggest plane deal in history: Airbus clinches massive order from India’s IndiGo,” CNN, June 19, 2023. ; that same week, Air India nearly equaled IndiGo’s order size with purchase agreements for 250 Airbus and 220 Boeing jets. IndiGo later added an order for 30 additional Airbus A350 planes, well suited to serving both domestic and international routes. 13 “Airbus confirms IndiGo's A350 aircraft order,” Economic Times , May 6, 2024. The Indian Hotels Company Limited is ramping up its hotel pipeline, aiming to open two new hotels per month in the near future. International players are not sitting on the sidelines: seven hotel chains are launching new brands in India in 2024, 14 Peden Doma Bhutia, “Indian Hotels expansion plans: 2 new brands launching, 2 hotels opening every month,” Skift, February 2, 2024. including Marriott’s first Moxy- and Tribute-branded hotels in India and entrants from Hilton’s Curio and Tapestry brands. 15 Forum Gandhi, “Check-in frenzy: International hotel giants unleash fresh brands in India’s booming hospitality landscape,” Hindu Businessline , February 13, 2024. Development focus has shifted away from major metropolises such as Mumbai and Delhi and toward fast-developing, smaller cities such as Chandigarh and Hyderabad.

Southeast Asian travel spending is projected to grow at roughly 7 percent per year. Pockets of particularly high growth exist in Cambodia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. To capitalize on this blossoming source market, neighboring countries are rolling out attractive visa arrangements: for example, China has agreed to reciprocal visa waivers for short-term travelers from Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. 16 Julienna Law, “China launches ‘visa-free era’ with Southeast Asia. Will travel retail boom?,” Jing Daily , January 30, 2024.

Travel spending by Eastern Europeans is expected to grow at 7 percent per year until 2030—two percentage points higher than spending by Western Europeans. Areas of especially high growth include the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland, where middle-class travelers are increasingly venturing farther afield. Major tourism players, including the TUI Group, have tapped into these new source markets by offering charter flights to warm-weather destinations such as Egypt. 17 Hildbrandt von Klaus, “TUI develops Czech Republic as a new source market,” FVW, December 22, 2023.

Although the number of travelers from these new source markets is growing, their purchasing power remains relatively limited. Compared with Western European travelers (who average $159 per night in total travel spending), South Asians spend 20 percent less, Eastern Europeans spend 40 percent less, and Southeast Asians spend 55 percent less. Only 3 percent of the current Asian hotel construction pipeline caters to economy travelers, suggesting a potential supply gap of rooms that could appeal to budget-constrained tourists.

While acknowledging that historical source markets will continue to constitute the bulk of travel spending, tourism players can consider actions such as these to capitalize on growing travel demand from newer markets:

• Reduce obstacles to travel. Countries can look for ways to strategically invest in simplifying travel for visitors from growing source markets. In 2017, for example, Azerbaijan introduced express processing of electronic visas for Indian visitors; annual arrivals from India increased fivefold in two years. Requirements regarding passport photocopies or in-person check-ins can similarly be assessed with an eye toward reducing red tape for travelers.
• Use culturally relevant marketing channels to reach new demographics. Unique, thoughtful marketing strategies can help destinations place themselves on first-time travelers’ bucket lists. For example, after the release of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara , a popular Bollywood movie shot in Spain with support from the Spanish Ministry of Tourism, Indian tourism to Spain increased by 65 percent. 18 “ Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara part of syllabus in Spain colleges,” India Today , June 6, 2004.
• Give new travelers the tech they expect. Travelers from newer source markets often have access to tech-forward travel offerings. For example, Indian travelers can travel anywhere within their country without physical identification, thanks to the Digi Yatra app. The Southeast Asian rideshare app Grab has several helpful travel features that competitors lack, such as automated menu translation and currency conversion. Tourism stakeholders should consider how to adapt to the tech expectations of newer travelers, integrating relevant offerings that ease journeys.
• Create vibrant experiences tailored to different price points. Crafting lower-budget offerings for more cost-constrained travelers doesn’t need to result in giving them a subpar experience. Capsule hotels, in which guests sleep in small cubbies, began as a response to the high cost of accommodations in Japan, but they have become an attraction in their own right—appearing on many must-do lists. 19 Philip Tang, “24 of the best experiences in Japan,” Lonely Planet, March 23, 2024.

The places you’ll go: The destinations of the future may not be the ones you imagine

The world’s top ten destination countries (the United States, Spain, China, France, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Italy, Thailand, Japan, and India, in that order) currently receive 45 percent of all travel spending, including for domestic travel. But some new locales are gaining traction (Exhibit 5).

A significant number of travelers are expanding their horizons, booking journeys to less visited countries that are near to old standbys. For instance, Laos and Malaysia, which both border Thailand—an established destination that is home to Bangkok, the world’s most visited city 20 Katherine LaGrave, “This is the world’s most visited city,” AFAR , January 31, 2024. —are up a respective 20 percent and 17 percent, respectively, in year-over-year international travel spending.

The world’s top ten destination countries currently receive 45 percent of all travel spending, including domestic-travel spending. But some new locales are gaining traction.

Several other countries that have crafted thoughtful tourism demand generation strategies—such as Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, and Vietnam—are also expected to reap benefits in the coming years. Vietnam logged a remarkable 40 percent increase in tourism spending in the five years before the pandemic. Postpandemic, it has rebounded in part by waiving visa requirements for European travelers (while indicating intent to offer similar exemptions in the future for Chinese and Indian travelers). 21 Ashvita Singh, “Vietnam looks to offer visa-free entry to Indians: India report,” Skift, November 20, 2023. The Philippines has made a concerted effort to shift its sun-and-beach branding toward a more well-rounded image, replacing its long-standing “It’s more fun in the Philippines” tourism slogan with “Love the Philippines.” Peru is highlighting less visited archeological sites while also marketing itself as a top-notch culinary destination through the promotion of Peruvian restaurants abroad. Rwanda is investing in infrastructure to become a major African transit hub, facilitated by Qatar Airways’ purchase of a 60 percent stake in the country’s major airport. 22 Dylan Cresswell, “Rwanda plots ambitious tourism recovery,” African Business , July 28, 2022. Rwanda has also successfully capitalized on sustainable tourism: by charging $1,500 per gorilla trekking permit, for instance, it has maximized revenue while reducing environmental impact.

Tourism players might consider taking some of these actions to lure tourists to less familiar destinations:

• Collaborate across the tourism ecosystem. Promotion is not solely the domain of destination marketing organizations. Accommodation, transportation, and experience providers can also play important roles. In Singapore, for instance, the luxury resort Marina Bay Sands partners extensively with Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Tourism Board to offer compelling tourism offerings. Past collaborations have included flight and stay packages built around culinary festivals and a Lunar New Year drone show. 23 “Singapore Tourism Board, Marina Bay Sands & UOB partner to enliven Marina Bay precinct,” Singapore Tourism Board news release, January 25, 2024.
• Use infrastructure linkage to promote new destinations. By extending route options, transportation providers can encourage visitors to create itineraries that combine familiar destinations with new attractions. In Asia, Thailand’s tourism authority has attempted to nudge visitors away from the most heavily trafficked parts of the country, such as Bangkok and Phuket, and toward less popular destinations.
• Deploy social media to reach different demographics. Innovative social media campaigns can help put a destination on the map. Australia launched its “Ruby the kangaroo” campaign in China to coincide with the return of postpandemic air capacity between the two places. A video adapted for Chinese context (with appropriate gestures and a hashtag in Mandarin) garnered more than 20 million views in a single day on one of China’s largest social media platforms. 24 Nicole Gong, “Can Ruby the kangaroo bring Chinese tourists hopping back to Australia?,” SBS, June 5, 2023.
• Embrace unknown status. “Off the beaten path” messaging can appeal to widely traveled tourists seeking fresh experiences. Saudi Arabia’s “#WhereInTheWorld” campaign promoted the country’s tourist spots by acknowledging that they are less familiar to travelers, using a series of images that compared these spots with better-known destinations.

As tourism stakeholders look to the future, they can take steps to ensure that they continue to delight existing travelers while also embracing new ones. Domestic and intraregional tourism remain major opportunities—catering to local tourists’ preferences while building infrastructure that makes travel more seamless within a region could help capture them. Creative collaboration among tourism stakeholders can help put lesser-known destinations on the map. Travel tides are shifting. Expertly navigating these currents could yield rich rewards.

Caroline Tufft is a senior partner in McKinsey’s London office, Margaux Constantin is a partner in the Dubai office, Matteo Pacca is a senior partner in the Paris office, Ryan Mann is a partner in the Chicago office, Ivan Gladstone is an associate partner in the Riyadh office, and Jasperina de Vries is an associate partner in the Amsterdam office.

The authors wish to thank Abdulhadi Alghamdi, Alessandra Powell, Alex Dichter, Cedric Tsai, Diane Vu, Elisa Wallwitz, Lily Miller, Maggie Coffey, Nadya Snezhkova, Nick Meronyk, Paulina Baum, Peimin Suo, Rebecca Stone, Sarah Fellay, Sarah Sahel, Steffen Fuchs, Steffen Köpke, Steve Saxon, Sophia Wang, and Urs Binggeli for their contributions to this article.

This article was edited by Seth Stevenson, a senior editor in the New York office.

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Student Life

Talia staude (a&s ’23, m.s. in commerce ‘24): embarking on a new chapter in life with courage.

Staude epitomizes the multidimensional nature of student-athletes, proving that the pursuit of excellence extends far beyond the field.

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By Emily Lauletta

“I’m always going a hundred miles an hour,” says M.S. in Commerce student and UVA soccer star Talia Staude.

Staude is in the midst of preparing for her big move, the day after graduation, from Charlottesville to Raleigh, where she’ll join the North Carolina Courage as a professional soccer player. After being drafted in January, Staude officially signed with the Courage in March and has already made fast connections with her new teammates.

From Dream to Reality

With so much excitement on the horizon, Staude is grateful for her family, her experiences, and the teams that got her to where she is. Hailing from Atlanta, GA, Staude grew up in a family of four, all athletes, of course. “I’ve dreamed of playing collegiate soccer since I was little,” she says.

Now on the verge of a professional sports career, the UVA defender has not only seen her childhood aspiration materialize but also surpass her expectations.

Staude started playing soccer at just three years old, with the encouragement of her family. “I was thrown into every sport possible,” she recalls.

In middle school, she started playing club soccer; when she got to high school, Staude found herself not only as a leader of her soccer team but also on the school’s basketball and swimming teams.

By her sophomore year, Staude knew she needed to choose, and while the student-athlete enjoyed each sport, “I couldn’t see myself playing anything besides soccer,” she says.

As she rounds out her fifth year as a UVA student-athlete, Staude looks back fondly on the memories she’s made with her teammates, including scoring her first goal as a collegiate athlete and making it to the College Cup her second year on the team.

Staude also expresses gratitude for having a sister, Kiera, who shares her passion for the sport (she plays soccer at the University of Georgia) and has been a significant source of support. “Growing up, we’d always play together and go on runs together,” she says.

Navigating Academics, Athletics, and Personal Passions

As a grad student, Staude has embraced the rigorous academic demands of one of UVA’s most prestigious programs. Despite the challenge, she is thankful for the opportunity it represents. As she looks ahead to her post-soccer career, Staude hopes to leverage both her undergraduate degree in Media Studies and her M.S. in Commerce (Management & Marketing) to transition into sports franchise management.

Completing an advanced degree while simultaneously co-captaining the UVA team—all while beginning a career as a professional athlete—is by no means an easy feat. Staude emphasizes that student-athletes, far from one dimensional, dedicate a great deal of time to both school and sports.

“You have a lot to offer outside of sports,” she says when asked what advice she would give to high school seniors about to embark on their journeys as student-athletes.

“One dimensional” certainly does not apply to Staude, who, even with her packed schedule, has found time to enjoy reading, volunteering, and even painting jeans, a hobby she picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once she finishes her M.S. in Commerce degree, Staude hopes to get more involved with the North Carolina Courage’s book club and seek out new volunteer opportunities through the team.

Outside of her hobbies, Staude has an immense love for animals. In fact, a few short years ago, she adopted a dog that she lovingly named Gavin. Gavin has since become the unofficial mascot for the UVA Women’s Soccer team, and of course, will be accompanying her on her move to Raleigh early this summer.

Staude also reflects on the many travel opportunities that soccer has given her. The sport has taken her around the world, from South Korea to South America, with her favorite places to visit being Uruguay and Argentina. “Getting to meet different people from different places has been amazing,” she notes.

Traveling will be a constant in Staude’s life for the foreseeable future. Not only do professional soccer teams often travel to different countries, such as Mexico or Costa Rica, for their preseasons, but the North Carolina Courage will also play each of the 14 U.S.-based teams across their lengthy seasons.

While this schedule may seem daunting to many, Staude feels nothing but excitement about her future with the National Women’s Soccer League team, especially with her Courage teammates, including friend and fellow former UVA player Haley Hopkins. “We have a drive to get better, which is awesome,” Staude says of her new team.

Embracing New Horizons

Undoubtedly, Staude’s trajectory as a professional athlete is promising, and with her impending McIntire degree, she may carve out a notable career path in sports management down the road. For now, Staude is taking it all in stride and looking forward to finishing up her UVA career, settling into her new home in Raleigh, NC, spending time with Gavin, and if she has time, maybe even learning to crochet.

Staude epitomizes the multidimensional nature of student-athletes, proving that the pursuit of excellence extends far beyond the field. As she embarks on this new chapter of her life, one thing is certain: Her journey is just beginning.

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