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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Last year, I got off a train in Yamagata, Japan, not for cherry blossoms in Kyoto or sushi in Tokyo, but for a hands-on sake-brewing workshop led by a sixth-generation brewer. Most people have never heard of Yamagata. That\u2019s exactly why I went.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not alone in this. A 2026 American Express global travel survey<\/a> found that 79% of millennials and Gen Z travelers now plan their trips around local workshops and hands-on activities, rather than the landmarks everyone already knows. Call it experience-first travel: choosing the unfamiliar workshop over the famous skyline, because the richer story lives there instead.<\/p>\n In 16 years of traveling to 33 countries and in my work as a CEO, I\u2019ve come to believe the same instinct separates good entrepreneurs from great ones. The founders and leaders I respect most don\u2019t chase the obvious move any more than they chase the obvious destination. They go where the attention isn\u2019t yet \u2014 the unproven market, the underpriced opportunity, the strategy nobody has covered.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what experience-first travel has taught me about leading a company.<\/p>\n Travelers who skip Santorini for olive oil tastings in Albania often walk away with a richer story and a far lower bill, because the crowded destinations carry the highest price and the least room to stand out. Trader Joe\u2019s founder Joe Coulombe built his business on the same instinct<\/a>. Rather than competing with mainstream supermarkets on price or selection, he built his original stores around well-educated, well-traveled customers the big chains were ignoring entirely.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve made some of my better moves as a CEO this way, too, by looking at a market that\u2019s already been written off (much like a sharp traveler looks past Lisbon to Portugal\u2019s countryside). Before chasing the market everyone else is already targeting, look for the one nobody\u2019s bothered to study yet. That instinct cuts both ways. The same traveler who can spot a tourist trap from a mile away should feel the same suspicion toward a business deal that looks too easy.<\/p>\n Klook\u2019s 2026 Travel Pulse survey<\/a> found that 88% of millennials and Gen Zers plan to maintain or increase travel spending this year, even as they cut back on shopping and material purchases. Their spending has gotten more deliberate. They\u2019re tracking exchange rates and off-season pricing the way I track market timing and cost structure. They\u2019re also choosing the trip that delivers the most value over the one that simply looks impressive.<\/p>\n I see the same discipline pay off in business. Status spending \u2014 the trophy market, the flashy hire, the headline acquisition \u2014 rarely outperforms a decision made on the fundamentals, and the gap between the two usually shows up in the numbers within a year or two. Before signing off on a big expense, ask whether it builds something durable or just looks good in a press release.<\/p>\n A traveler hiking in Guatemala with a local Mayan guide gets a richer, more cost-effective and more useful experience than one who books an international package tour. I think about this every time I expand into a new market or hire for a role I don\u2019t fully understand myself. The specialist who already knows the terrain outperforms the imported playbook nearly every time, whether that\u2019s a guide in the highlands or an operator who has already built a business in a market I\u2019m entering for the first time.<\/p>\n When I\u2019m weighing whether to bring in outside expertise, I look for someone who has already made the mistakes I\u2019m about to make, not someone repeating a generic framework. A guide who already knows where the trail washes out saves a trip; an advisor who already knows where a market stalls saves a quarter.<\/p>\n According to Skyscanner\u2019s 2026 Travel Trends report<\/a>, 72% of Gen Z travelers say they feel confident using AI tools to plan and research a trip in 2026, and they\u2019re pairing that with firsthand blogs and forums rather than outdated guidebooks. That\u2019s also the difference between leaders who adapt fast and the ones who get blindsided.<\/p>\n I try to apply the same standard before making a decision. Would this hold up against the most current information available, or am I working from an assumption that\u2019s a year or two stale? Curiosity, applied consistently, functions as a business strategy as much as a travel habit, and the leaders who keep re-checking their assumptions tend to spot a shift before it costs them anything.<\/p>\n The famous destinations will still be there. So will the obvious moves in your industry. The real advantage tends to show up somewhere else, in the workshop nobody\u2019s heard of, the market nobody\u2019s covered and the hire nobody else considered. Before the next big decision, it\u2019s worth asking whether the plan chases the landmark everyone already knows or the opportunity still off the map.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Last year, I got off a train in Yamagata, Japan, not for cherry blossoms in Kyoto or sushi in Tokyo, but for a hands-on sake-brewing workshop led by a sixth-generation brewer. Most people have never heard of Yamagata. That\u2019s exactly why I went.<\/p>\n1. Look past the obvious opportunity<\/h2>\n
2. Plan around value, not status<\/h2>\n
3. Hire local expertise over an imported playbook<\/h2>\n
4. Replace guesswork with research<\/h2>\n
Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n
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