As Europeans increasingly swap screen time for real-world experiences, Sailia is emerging as one of a new generation of technology companies supporting the shift. The company, which provides booking and operations software for activity businesses, says demand from outdoor and experience-led operators is accelerating as consumers prioritise offline leisure over digital consumption.
New research from Mastercard reveals a significant societal shift: 60% of Europeans are now prioritising offline experiences to balance digital overload. Perhaps most tellingly, 46% of consumers are actively cutting their spend on technology, gadgets, and streaming services to fund real-world leisure.
This movement has seen the share of consumer spending on experiences (excluding travel) climb to 20.4%, with Outdoor Experiences ranking as the third most in-demand activity for 2026.
Rising Demand for Local Experience Businesses
Rising demand is also creating a major opportunity for independent and regional operators, with Mastercard finding that 57% of Europeans are willing to spend more on experiences that support local businesses.
That demand is already translating into growth for operators using Sailia. Since onboarding in early 2026, one of Scotland’s best-known outdoor activity centres Loch Insh Outdoor Centre has recorded a 37% year-on-year increase in online sales compared to the same period last year.
Simplifying Operations for Activity Operators
While demand for offline experiences continues to rise, much of the infrastructure supporting activity operators has struggled to keep pace. Businesses are under pressure to modernise operations without losing the personal and community-driven qualities consumers increasingly value.
Built by and for activity operators, Sailia streamlines every facet of an activity business into a single platform. Bookings, payments, staffing, waivers, CRM, communications, OTA integrations and accounting are unified into a single platform built specifically to meet the demands of activity operators.
The software is designed to simplify operations for experience businesses while making it easier for consumers to discover and book real-world activities. Sailia says operators using the platform report an average 33% increase in revenue alongside significant reductions in administrative workload, with more than 172,000 manual hours eliminated across its customer base in Q1 2026 alone. The company has also grown rapidly over the past year, and currently reports 50% MoM growth.
Expansion Across Europe’s Experience Economy
Sailia already provides access to over 500,000 bookable experiences through its rapidly expanding network of partnered centres across Europe, and serves as a key partner for the Royal Yachting Association (RYA), the national governing body for boating. Following a US$450,000 pre-seed funding round from Haatch in August 2025, Sailia is now positioned to scale alongside Europe’s growing demand for offline and experience-led leisure.
On the current state of the experience economy, Sailia founder & CEO George Lewis comments “Internally we're seeing that the next wave of commerce is experience-led. The last two decades gave us physical abundance: anything delivered to your door in days, sometimes hours. The next shift is experience abundance, where people increasingly choose to spend on memories, activities and real-world connection. Sailia exists to power the businesses delivering that shift”.