Why young UAE residents are collecting experiences instead of things

There was a time when a good month meant coming home with shopping bags.

A new pair of shoes. The latest phone. A designer bag you had been saving for. Maybe something shiny enough to make its way onto Instagram before it even made it out of the box.

Now, for many young UAE residents, bragging rights look a little different.

It is the concert you stayed up until 2am for. The last-minute flight you booked with your friends. The pottery class you randomly decided to try on a Tuesday night. The desert sunrise. The restaurant you had been stalking on TikTok. The road trip where the plan fell apart after the first hour, and somehow became the best part.

The shopping bag has been replaced by a camera roll.

And increasingly, young people in the UAE seem to be asking themselves a different question when deciding where to spend their money: “Will I remember this?”

The experience economy is having a moment

This is not just a feeling.

A UAE Experience Survey found that 75 per cent of residents were more willing than ever to seek out, spend on and prioritise experiences. Eight in 10 said they set aside a specific budget for experiences after covering their basic monthly expenses. Entertainment, dining and travel were among the biggest categories.

And the trend has continued.

More recent research from Visa found that 43 per cent of UAE travellers say experiences are a key motivation for travel, with spending time with family and friends ranking even higher.

For younger residents, this shift is particularly noticeable. Research on UAE Gen Z travellers has found that many are willing to cut back on shopping to make room for meaningful trips, while cultural discovery, adventure and simply getting away from everyday life have become important parts of travel.

In other words, the question is no longer necessarily “What can I buy?”

It is “What can I do?”

Because nobody needs another random thing

Part of this comes down to something painfully familiar: we already have too much stuff.

Open a young person's wardrobe and there is probably a pile of clothes they forgot they owned. Their phone is full of screenshots of things they considered buying. Their room has products that looked absolutely essential online and completely unnecessary three weeks later.

Experiences, however, do not sit in a cupboard.

You cannot forget that sunset quite as easily as you forget the shoes you bought during a sale.

There is also something more emotional happening. Experiences become stories, and stories become part of how people see 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 things become little pieces of identity.

A handbag might get scratched. A phone will eventually be replaced. But the ridiculous story about getting lost on a road trip with your best friends tends to get better every time it is retold.

The UAE makes it very easy

There is also a uniquely UAE element to this.

For young residents, you do not necessarily need to get on a plane to feel like you have done something new.

The country has turned experiences into an everyday form of entertainment. There is always a new restaurant, exhibition, pop-up, concert, beach club, sporting event, desert activity, wellness class or temporary attraction appearing somewhere.

And when the weather is right, a spontaneous plan can be as simple as driving somewhere for sunset.

Even when international travel is too expensive, residents are increasingly looking closer to home. A 2026 Majid Al Futtaim survey found that 47 per cent of UAE residents planned to remain in the country over the summer, with many choosing local options instead.

The experience does not have to be extravagant.

Sometimes it is a staycation.

Sometimes it is dinner somewhere new.

Sometimes it is sitting on the beach with takeaway coffee for three hours and calling it a plan.

Social media changed the souvenir

Then there is Instagram and TikTok.

Young people are not simply experiencing things. They are documenting them.

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 just how powerful social media has become in shaping consumer decisions, while research on young UAE travellers found that Instagram and TikTok influence where some choose to go and what they choose to do.

But interestingly, the goal is not always to show off.

Sometimes it is about proof.

Proof that you went. Proof that you tried something. Proof that you lived a little outside your normal routine.

Your camera roll becomes a kind of personal archive.

It is not necessarily anti-shopping

Of course, this does not mean young people have suddenly stopped buying things.

They have not.

Gen Z and millennials remain major spenders in categories such as luxury, beauty, electronics and travel retail.

The difference is more about what feels worth spending on.

A young person might happily spend Dh500 on a concert, then spend the next week avoiding expensive dinners.

Someone might save for months for a holiday but buy fewer clothes.

Another person might skip the latest gadget because they would rather spend the money on a weekend away with friends.

It is less about abandoning material possessions and more about becoming selective.

"If I am going to spend the money, I want it to mean something."

The new flex is having a life to talk about

There is something almost ironic about the whole thing.

Young people are constantly accused of being glued to their phones, yet many are spending their money trying to create moments worth putting down the phone for.

The new flex 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 having a ridiculous travel story.

It is trying something you have never done before.

It is having a camera roll that makes you smile when you scroll too far back.

And perhaps that is why experiences are winning.

Things eventually become ordinary. Experiences become memories.

For a generation growing up in a country where there is seemingly always something new to discover, the ultimate form of wealth might simply be having a life that feels full.

Not necessarily a bigger wardrobe.

Just a better story.