Chapter:1 Emerging Trends in Tourism
The tourism trends in response to increasing consumer actions due to the coronary pandemic were essential. However, most patterns have arisen from more general shifts in customer behaviour. Below there are various tourism trends are discussed based on more general changes in consumer behavior, like the need for healthy and organic food & drinks, sustainability, personalized service, the rising demand for digitalization, and the use of technology.
1. Wellness & Retreat Tourism Trends
Few tourism trends are growing as rapidly as wellness and retreat tourism. This is a kind of tourism that can be described as being primarily motivated by self-improvement. It typically involves traveling in a way that contributes positively to a tourist’s physical and mental health or knowledge and awareness.
Wellness and retreat tourism takes many forms, from visiting meditation retreats or yoga retreats to staying at health spas or healthy eating retreats. In the past, vacations were often seen as a time to let go and indulge in food and alcohol, but many modern tourists actively seek out trips where they get away from everyday temptations.
2. Solo Travel
Leisure travel was a family affair or something that couples undertook together. While that’s still the case for many, more and more people are choosing to strike out on their own. Enjoying a solo trip is no longer so unusual, and tourist trends increasingly reflect this. The needs of solo travellers are diverse.
Some want to travel without the distraction of a companion. Others are young singles looking for social activities or to find a partner. Some widowed seniors even use long-term hotel stays or cruises as a luxurious alternative to conventional elder care. These tourism trends are set to grow and grow.
3. Eco-Travel
The concerns and mores of the customer base heavily influence tourism trends. As a new generation becomes increasingly relevant in the marketplace, the ideals driving their purchasing decisions create new tourism trends. Eco-travel is just one example of these tourism trends, reflecting a growing concern among today’s travellers for ethical and sustainable tourism options.
Eco travel includes simple changes, such as the availability of carbon credits when booking a flight or the option to rent an electric instead of a conventional vehicle. More sophisticated examples might include tourism with a volunteer element, perhaps working on a nature reserve or engaging in conservation work.
4. Local Experience
Today’s tourists don’t want to be insulated from the places they visit inside a cultural bubble. They want to engage with and participate in the local culture. From enjoying local cuisine to celebrating regional festivals and holidays, local experiences are set to become some of the top tourist trends to watch.
One example of a popular local experience would be visiting Japan during a major festival, renting formal Japanese clothes to wear, consuming regional delicacies, and engaging in traditional games or cultural activities. Another might be a long stay with a host family in the destination country to learn more about the local culture.
5. Sleep Tourism Trends
Like wellness and retreat tourism trends, sleep tourism is a rapidly growing area of the tourism industry. As the name indicates, this kind of tourism places a strong emphasis on sleep. The aim of sleep tourism is to gain high-quality sleep in sufficient quantity and return from the trip well-rested and ready to tackle everyday life.
Again, this kind of tourism can take many different forms. Some sleep tourism destinations focus on meditation, while others prioritize soundproof rooms, an absence of technology and distractions, or rooms where light can be fully blocked out. Service providers tend to invest heavily in great beds, duvets, and pillows.
6. Personalization
The ads that pop up on social media and certain other websites, ads related to things we have searched or looked at during online purchase. This is just one example of personalization. In marketing tourism more effectively, personalization can apply to every aspect of the tourist experience.
Today’s consumers expect experiences that closely match their preferences, from destinations to accommodation and activities they’ll engage in. The more closely an experience can be tailored to a client’s desires and expectations, the more likely they are to return and use the same service again.
7. Indigenous Tourism
Many emerging tourism trends are geared towards making tourism more ethical and less harmful. Another example of this is the growth of indigenous tourism, which can be described as tourism experiences that are owned and operated by indigenous people. This helps to ensure these people benefit most from the tourism in their area.
For tourists, meanwhile, indigenous tourism provides exciting opportunities to take on new experiences in a way that is completely authentic. These experiences could involve staying in traditional accommodations, eating traditional foods, experiencing life in remote locations, or temporarily living as indigenous people live.
8.Healthy and Organic Food
Healthy food and the kind of fare consumed by tourists used to be antonyms in the minds of many travelers, with holidays traditionally representing a chance to break one’s diet and indulge in forbidden treats. Today’s travelers know that delicious and nutritious are not exclusive concepts.
Demand for excellent cuisine with a view to better nutrition drives new tourism trends. The modern tourist wants to know that their food is as healthy as delicious. The organic food movement also affects tourism trends, with more eateries and hotels offering organic options. Other special diets are also represented.
9. Nostalgic Travel Options
Tourism trends are also increasingly being impacted by a generalized thirst for nostalgia among the public, and nostalgic travel options represent a significant opportunity for businesses. Nostalgia can inform travel decisions in several ways, such as a longing for simpler times and encouraging travellers to book trips to remote locations.
Alternatively, nostalgia could see travellers focus on domestic trips, particularly on places they visited when they were younger. Some travelers may also focus on destinations with which they have a long-established connection, such as through films they have enjoyed, video games they have played, or music they love.
Guided tours to destinations known for preserving a specific historical era or cultural period. Focus on exploring sites, architecture, and attractions that evoke a sense of nostalgia. Visit iconic historical landmarks and museums. Immerse in the culture and traditions of a bygone era.
Knowledgeable guides provide historical insights.
Heritage Rail Journeys Train journeys using vintage or historic locomotives, offering a nostalgic travel experience. Scenic routes often traverse picturesque landscapes, providing a blend of history and adventure. Ride on restored antique trains with period décor.
Enjoy breath taking views of scenic landscapes.
Recreate the romance of old-fashioned rail travel.
Vintage Accommodation Stays, Lodging experiences in historic hotels, inns, or guesthouses with well-preserved architecture. Emphasis on recreating the ambiance and charm of a bygone era, enhancing the overall guest experience. Stay in carefully restored properties with period furnishings.
10. Safety & Hygiene Tourism Trends
Whether it is airlines, cruises, hotels, restaurants, or bars, since the outbreak of COVID, safety and hygiene standards have been paramount. With this in mind, several tourism trends are related to this, such as increased cleaning, socially distanced seating, providing hand gel, and enforcing masks in some settings.
This is also now a vital part of tourism marketing, with companies needing to clarify their hygiene and safety policies and measures to keep customers safe. The threat of COVID has meant people are more reluctant to travel and visit tourism hot spots, so they must be persuaded that it is safe.
The “Hygiene is the New Marketing Message for Hotels” post explains this trend in more detail.
11. Artificial Intelligence
As well as the aforementioned chatbots, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important to the tourism industry. Machine learning technology is now firmly entrenched in the marketing of the tourism sector, with AI helping to personalize the experience of finding and booking tours and trips.
AI is also increasingly valuable in contexts such as smart hotel rooms, identifying the likely needs of guests and fine-tuning the environment and services to fit the guest’s needs and preferences. Artificial intelligence is finding applications everywhere, from customer service to security. Future AI tourism trends to watch out for might include self-driving vehicles and virtual guides for tourism.
12. Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT is relevant to many tourism trends. IoT devices are gadgets equipped with a microprocessor and digital connectivity, allowing them to connect to and be controlled from the internet. IoT devices include heating and cooling systems, entertainment systems, and other items often found in a hotel room, giving rise to “smart” hotel rooms.
The IoT is also used to integrate services in a hospitality setting, for example, by allowing guests to book activities (a session in the hotel’s spa, swimming in the pool, training in the gym, etc.) or request such things as room service or extra linen via a hub or a smartphone application.
13. Virtual Reality Tourism Trends
Virtual reality is another of the major tourism trends disrupting the industry, and capitalizing on the technology can give you an edge over rivals who have not yet adopted it. Customers can experience hotel interiors, restaurant interiors, outdoor tourist attractions, and more from their homes through online VR tours.
Crucially, they can do this at the decision-making phase of the customer journey. This can be the difference between customers completing a booking or backing out. VR is especially useful after COVID, where customers may need extra encouragement to press ahead with their plans.
Most modern VR tours are web-based and can be viewed through any mainstream web browser. The quality of the VR tour and the extent of immersion can then be improved further through VR headsets.
14. Augmented Reality (AR)
Where VR simulates entire environments and experiences, augmented reality combines real-world experiences and virtual elements. A familiar example would be the smartphone game Pokémon Go, where imaginary creatures are superimposed on real-time footage of the player’s environment. In the tourist industry, this is very useful: instead of fantasy monsters.
AR smartphone apps can show tourists information about the area they’re exploring. This could be historical details about buildings and landmarks or listings and menus for entertainment venues and local eateries. Museums use AR increasingly, allowing visitors to view artifacts with their original appearance as a virtual overlay. Other augmented reality applications might include internet-enabled virtual maps.
https://you https://youtu.be/trhPBAugnaItu.be/trhPBAugnaI