Many of you ask what new trends, and things we can expect in the travel industry in the next few years. I don’t own a time machine, or a crystal ball, so here is my best guess at the rest of this decade for travel trends.
I see the future of travel being influenced by these three forces:
ONE: What Travellers are demanding
Ultimately, the consumer will drive the travel business, and while popular destinations will come and go, here’s what we see people asking for more of:
- More Inclusive: People want to pay once, and have as much as possible included, rather than be constantly pulling out their wallets. This explains why cruise and packaged land tours have seen such extraordinary growth.
- Experiential Travel: Lying on the beach and drinking beer gets old… fast, for many people. People want leisure, but they also want to be able to experience and learn things unavailable to them at home. A shopping trip with a chef, or perhaps a reading english books with local school children are examples of this.
- Culinary: It appears we’re starting to catch up with our European cousins in terms of the value we place on a good meal. Food and wine experiences, as well as healthy food choices are now a key part of the travel experience.
- Exclusive Access. More travel providers are offering before or after hours access to busy tourist sites, as people grow tired of standing in long lines with thousands of others.
- Longer Duration. This might be because air travel has become so onerous that people want to make the most of the (frustration) investment they make to get to their destination. We are seeing people do back-to-back vacations in the same region, so they only have to make the flight once.
- Self-improvement. This takes many forms: lectures and educational activities, wellness events and voluntourism.
- Sustainability. People are being more discerning about the impact their travels have on local economies, cultures, and the environment, so you can expect to see travel vendors highlighting their efforts in these areas.
TWO: What local authorities and governments are demanding
- Over-tourism. Many local authorities are trying to balance the obvious benefits of tourism with the impact that too many tourists can cause. Venice, Barcelona, Iceland, and Key West, Florida are high profile examples of jurisdictions that are restricting tourist traffic. This trend will grow.
- Redeployment away from some ports of call. As a result of over-tourism, expect to see different patterns for cruise line itineraries. Both the European and the US governments will require cruise ships to “plug-in” when they are at port before the end of the decade. This will push traffic to those ports with such infrastructure.
- Carbon neutrality by 2050. The cruise ship industry has committed to be a net zero carbon emitter in fairly short order. We’ve already seen hybrid-electric ships, and LNG powered ships, so look for new technologies as cruise lines renew their fleets.
THREE: Conditions that macro-economics and demographics are going to impose on us:
- Inflation is real: We’ve already seen this in hotels and resorts, and it’s only a matter of time before this shows itself in cruise and packaged land tours. The best way to insure against this is to hold space now to guarantee your price.
- The Chinese will be travelling. Currently, the USA is the largest “exporter” of tourists to the world. By 2030, it will be China. Given China’s huge population, this is going to have a huge impact on the industry, and will likely cause even more local governments to restrict and regulate tourist traffic. I suspect India will also not be far behind. For context the population of these two countries combined is almost TEN TIMES that of the United States. Most of their populations are not affluent enough to travel abroad. This is changing quickly.
- Baby-boomer influence on travel will wane. We don’t have access to demographic data for who reads these posts regularly, but based on who we talk to, we know a significant number of you were born between 1946 and 1964 (as were we!). It’s been a great run, hasn’t it? But we are increasingly NOT who travel vendors are looking to attract, and design products for. Interestingly, they are most focused on those born between 1980 and 2000 – what has been called the “echo” of the Baby Boom (it is the baby boomers’ children). So if you want to see the future of travel, then look to what most interests YOUR kids. Until then… as members of the baby-boom cohort ourselves, Bob and I will continue to travel and promote products appropriate to our peers.
Today’s Travel Opportunities
Tauck European River Cruises
You probably know Tauck as the high-quality provider of land tours both domestically and abroad, but they also have a fleet of river ships in Europe. They are the most inclusive of any of the river cruise lines, and have the lowest passenger counts. Here are some examples:
Munich to Budapest for 7-nights departing April 13
- Visit Passau, Cesky Krumlov, Grein, Durnstein, Vienna, and Bratislava.
- Includes gratuities (on and off the ship), small private shore-excursions with a choice in every port, Imperial evening at a Private Vienna Palace. Wine tasting at Weissenkirchen, Open bar, transfers.
- $4390 per person
Tulips Cruise (Amsterdam to Brussels) for 7-nights departing April 7
- Visit Amsterdam (overnight), Keukenhof Gardens, The Hague, Kinderdijk, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Brussels
- $4990 per person including transfers, all gratuities, open bar, and a choice of several shore excursions in each port of call.
Explora Journeys Mediterranean
This new brand is more like a European city stay (where the city changes daily!). There is no main dining room, but rather a series of (included) specialty restaurants. There’s no Vegas style production shows, but rather a series of smaller venues with first quality entertainment (like a city). You’ll also have a huge 375 square foot veranda room. Your fare includes an open bar, wifi, specialty dining, and gratuities.
Due to our exclusive arrangement with them, we can also get you
- 10% off any 2023 departure, or
- 5% off any 2024 departure.
- Shore Experience credits €300 per person
If you missed our vendor focus on Explora… here’s the link: https://pamperedcruiser.com/explora-journeys-world-debut/
Here are some examples for the Mediterranean:
Athens to Venice for 7-nights departing August 2
- Visit Athens, Patmos, Kefalonia, Dubrovnik, Zadar, Rovinj, Venice
- $5250 per person
Athens to Istanbul for 7-nights departing September 13
- Visit Athens, Mykonos (overnight) , Skiathos, Thessaloniki, Kavala, Istanbul.
- $5250 per person
Rocky Mountaineer
Some of you have asked for travel ideas that are closer to home. Rocky Mountaineer provides luxury experiences with great scenery in both the United States and Canada. The train only operates in daylight hours, so you don’t miss any of the stunning vistas or wildlife sightings.
Rocky Mountaineer round-trip from Denver for 7-nights
- Visit Denver, Glenwood Springs and Moab with lots of spare time for exploration of the National Parks in the region
- 4-days on board the train
- $ 4109 per person for departures in May
Rocky Mountaineer Circle Journey round-trip Vancouver for 10-nights
- Visit Vancouver, Kamloops, Jasper NP, and Banff NP
- 4-days on the train with a different rail route (and different scenery) eastbound versus westbound.
- $5550 per person for departures in May
Recently booked a Viking Cruise?
Viking makes it really easy to book directly, either online or by phone. Our clients worry that if they book on-line, that they’re cutting us out, but if you let us know after you’ve booked, then we can still help you with your reservation.
We’ll check over your reservation to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal, and we will also add some onboard credits that are not available on direct bookings.
We can add at least $100 per person onboard credit to any direct Viking reservation made in the last 60 days.There is never a situation where you’ll get a better deal by booking directly with Viking (or any other cruise line).
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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
