Forget shopping sprees – instead of “things”, what Australians really love collecting these days is memories. For too long during the pandemic, we lost the freedom to go out and have experiences. No dining out, live music, beach days with friends. Cut to the end of lockdowns, and we’d basically lost a good couple of years’ worth of accumulating experiences (apart from baking sourdough and logging on for Zoom trivia). When everything opened back up again, we were like bulls at a gate – ready to charge back out into the world to pack our lives with experiences. From immersive art installations to secret supper clubs, wild swimming hole tours and sound baths, it’s no wonder the “experience economy” is booming.
As the cost of living bites, we might have expected this appetite to slow. Yet Australians are increasingly directing their disposable income towards events and activities that promise connection, novelty and memory-making. In fact, we’re spending nearly one in every five dollars on dining out and nightlife – well above the global average – according to Mastercard.
That suits us here at Time Out just fine – Time Out’s mission has always been to get people up off the couch and out experiencing the best of their cities. Getting out is good for communities, for local businesses, for your physical and mental health and relationships.
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Unlike generations before them, Gen Z won’t settle for just drinks and some grub at the pub as a day or night out – they want their dining, drinking, and everything else they do to revolve around an “experience”. So we’re seeing experiences on offer diversify – think micro-festivals in suburban parks, and after-dark museum takeovers.
Part of the appeal lies in shareability. Thanks to social media, unusual and photogenic experiences are social currency, and Australians are savvy about what makes their feeds pop. But it’s also about a deeper craving: to break routine, exit the WFH bubble, connect with others and feel present. We don’t want to risk any more time looking back and wondering, where the heck did that last year go? What did I even do?
To meet the shift, Mastercard has launched a Priceless Experiences pilot program that’s all about curating very memorable bookable experiences led by cool creatives. The pilot kicked off here in Sydney with an intimate Priceless Experience hosted by MasterChef alumni Brendan Pang at Vive Cooking School in Rosebery, Sydney – a hands-on dumpling making class. I was lucky enough to be able to go along, so I not only got to meet and have dinner with BrendI did an, but also have him teach me the dumpling recipes he’d known since childhood.
Experiences like this that involve dining in some way appear to be people’s preferences. “According to analysis from the Mastercard Economics Institute, dining remains firmly in favour, with share of wallet spending on dining up by more than half a percentage point across consumer types compared to the same period in 2024,” says Katrina Ell, Vice President, Economist, Australasia, Mastercard.
Popular cook Brendan Pang was the perfect partner to launch Mastercard’s first creator-led Priceless Experience in Australia, says Julie Nestor, Mastercard’s Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Asia Pacific. “His dumpling masterclass at Vive Cooking School sold out in just four days, showing there’s a demand for [unique] experiences that bring people together,” she says. “The pilot was designed to shift from curated-for to curated-by, giving talented creators like Brendan the opportunity to design and host their own events.”
With a revenue-share model built in, the program empowers creators like Brendan to monetise their skill while allowing ticket holders the chance to take part in a truly unique and memorable experience. Win-win.
My dumpling-making experience with Brendan Pang sure was priceless – not only did I get to chat and laugh with him, learn some dumpling mastery to impress my family and friends, and eat said dumplings – but now every time I make dumplings at home, I’ll recall those memories.
“The Priceless Platform was born with a simple idea,” says Nestor: “that the most meaningful things in life can’t be bought. Since its debut in 1997, priceless has evolved from a brand campaign into a global experiences platform that connects cardholders to their passions. Today, priceless offers exclusive access to curated events, your favourite artists and cultural moments that go beyond transactions.”
Keen to see what other Priceless Experiences you might be able to get around? Keep a look out over at Priceless.com, where you can also access pre-sales, preferred concert tickets and more.
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