The Real World Premium
sidv@sidv
· 2
+2.3%
since Sep 30
The idea
I believe the more life goes digital, the more people will pay for what a screen cannot replicate, so scarce in-person experiences gain pricing power. This basket spreads across travel and stays, live events and venues, parks, restaurants, wellness, and the platforms that take a fee on every booking, with larger anchor positions in the biggest operators and smaller stakes in punchier names, plus a small cash buffer.
What it owns
- Travel represents the largest in-person purchase most people make, and booking platforms and hotel operators capture the majority of spending through fees and rates. · Booking HoldingsIt takes a fee on global travel bookings without owning hotels, winning whenever room nights booked increase across the world., AirbnbIt collects fees on room bookings and in-person experiences, growing with total travel spending as nights booked and experience bookings expand., Marriott InternationalIt collects franchise fees on thousands of hotel rooms, winning whenever occupancy rates and room rates increase across its system., Hilton WorldwideIt operates on the same franchise-fee model as other hotel operators, growing with new hotel openings and rising revenue per room., Expedia GroupIt captures travel booking fees at lower valuations than peers, growing as total bookings increase and the discount to competitors narrows.28%
- Concerts, fights and shows are experiences that cannot be streamed, and venues consistently raise ticket prices as demand for in-person events remains strong. · Live Nation EntertainmentIt operates concerts and controls ticket sales, capturing revenue when attendance and ticket prices rise as live entertainment becomes the premium experience., TKO Group HoldingsIt owns UFC and WWE events that fill arenas, benefiting from rising attendance and premium prices people pay for live fights in person., Sphere EntertainmentIt operates a unique entertainment venue designed to draw visitors specifically for the in-person experience, needing strong bookings and future venue expansion., Madison Square Garden EntertainmentIt owns iconic venues that cannot be replicated and hold pricing power when in-person events are scarce, benefiting from rising bookings and per-event revenue.21%
- Theme parks and cruises sell multi-day experiences that families plan vacations around, creating predictable demand for premium pricing. · Walt Disney CompanyIts theme parks anchor the take, with families paying rising per-guest spending precisely because streaming movies cannot replace the park experience., Royal Caribbean GroupIt sells multi-day vacations where guests live on ships, with success measured by advance bookings and rising prices for future sailings., Six Flags EntertainmentIt operates regional theme parks where families spend on affordable day outings, succeeding as park attendance and per-guest spending both increase.15%
- Dining out is the everyday version of paying for an experience rather than a product, with consumers choosing restaurants over home meals. · Darden RestaurantsIt operates major casual dining chains, benefiting when customers choose restaurant meals over staying home, measured through same-restaurant sales growth., Chipotle Mexican GrillIt represents the everyday habit of leaving home to purchase food, growing through transaction increases and new restaurant locations that perform like established ones., Texas RoadhouseIt maintains dining rooms with consistent wait times, proving consumers want to eat in restaurants with other people rather than order to go.13%
- Gyms and fitness clubs sell in-person community through subscriptions, creating sticky recurring revenue from members who value the social aspect. · Planet FitnessIt sells affordable gym memberships where members work out among other people rather than at home, succeeding as membership counts grow and retention holds., Life Time GroupIt operates premium fitness and social clubs, growing when membership counts and revenue per member both rise, showing the community justifies the premium price.9%
- Payment processors and platforms collect fees on every transaction across ticketed events and dining, benefiting from growth in in-person spending regardless of which specific venues win. · ToastIt takes a cut from restaurant payments, growing with restaurant adoption and transaction volume as more people dine out., Shift4 PaymentsIt processes payments for stadiums, hotels and restaurants, collecting fees on in-person spending volume across the entire take as payment volumes grow.7%
- Cash7%