Top 8 Tourism Travel Trends for 2019 and beyond

Traveling still remains one of the most thrilling experiences. It is also one of the most dynamic. It is not unusual to find that travel trends and habits that grabbed the headlines barely 10 years ago have since been abandoned and replaced by newer and better trends. One of the reasons for these constant shifts is the fact that tourism is among the top industries considered very receptive to technological changes. In technical terms, the tourism industry is an early adapter and not a late adopter when it comes to embracing transformative technological changes. In this post, we will discuss the top 8 travel trends that are likely to shape the world of tourism in 2019 and beyond.

Solo Travel

From time immemorial, traveling has always been looked upon as a family affair. However, emerging trends now suggest that more and more travelers are opting for solo traveling. It is easy to look at solo travel from a cost-effective perspective. However, it goes way beyond that. Proponents of solo travel argue that it offers them a time to reflect upon their personal life, without the constant distractions from their companions. Solo travels are especially preferred by those that wish to escape from the hassles of their ordinary struggles and experience life at a higher yet more tranquil level.

Experience-based Traveling

Again, traveling has always been associated with sightseeing. This explains why upon returning home, your family and friends will be anxious to have a look at the photos you took from the places you visited. Even if there are no photos to show for it, they will be anxious to have you narrate what you saw. How majestic were the buildings? Were the landscapes picturesque enough? Did you visit enchanted beaches? These are some of the questions you will often have to deal with. However, there appears to be a paradigm shift in terms of what motivates people to go traveling. In the near future, experience will be the main motivation, as opposed to sightseeing. As one of the travel trends, experience-based travel will shift the focus from seeing the landmarks to experiencing cultures, different cuisines, religious etc.

Eco Travel

The tourism industry has been fairly receptive when it comes to adopting ethical and sustainable environmental conservation practices. That has been evidenced by the increasing awareness for environmental conservation among modern-day travelers, especially among the members of the millennial generation. But contrary to popular perception, eco travel does not involve asking for too much from travel facilitators. Instead, travelers are often looking for small adjustments, but the ones that go a long way in conserving the environment. Some of these include opting for an electric vehicle instead of a conventional one, or asking airline companies if they have provisions for carbon credits. Eco travelers could also choose to participate in eco-friendly practices in the course of their trips, such as planting of trees.

Conscious Travel

This can be tied back a little to experience-based traveling, only that it goes deeper than that. Conscious traveling entails unearthing some of the unconventional practices in the course of your trips. You can then highlight these practices in view of changing perceptions and attitudes. For instance, a conscious traveler will keep their eyes and ears out for women empowerment programs [or the lack of it] in the regions they tour. Or, they could be looking out for cases of gender-based bias, child neglect, corruption among the political elite, etc. After carefully, documenting these incidences, the traveler will then highlight them in a bid to get the information out there.

AI and VR Technology

Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are some of the cutting-edge technological innovations that will characterize the traveling industry in 2019 and beyond. As it stands, most travelers are already aware of concepts like speech recognition, keyless room-access, robotic concierge that are able to communicate with travelers in their native language and real-time luggage tracking. Most importantly, travelers will be looking to apps, in a bid to book their tickets, as well as understand more about the destination they wish to tour even before setting out. Since travelers themselves are already demonstrating heightened awareness of these travel-friendly technological innovations, travel and tour companies will have no choice but to make adjustments as required.

The Digital Tour Guide Experience

Real-time video experiences are some of the most remarkable trends that will shape the travel industry. Initially, tourists preferred to travel along with companions who would do all the digital work including photography, video-recording, etc. This made it difficult to get that up-close and personal experience. Thankfully, the idea of digital tour guides will now change all that. Armed with a video camera, you can stream live all your experiences and interactions. Your friends, family and work colleagues will be able to share in your moments in real-time, as opposed to having them wait for some pictures and narrations that normally do not paint a clearer picture of the situation.

Bleisure Traveling

Traveling has always be done for either leisure or business purposes. Well, that is poised to change, with the emergence of the bleisure concept. In this kind of traveling, you go on a trip for both leisure and business purposes. Bleisure is already very evidence among corporate travelers who leverage their time to experience other aspects of the locations they travel to. Traveling from the US all the way to the Far East to inspect a manufacturing plant is a great experience. But it is even greater if you spend your downtime also studying the local culture, language and norms. As you probably already guessed, bleisure is a cost-effective concept.

The Desire For Authentic Experiences

In the coming years, we are likely to see people looking for authentic, and a little surreal experiences. We are breaking away from the norm of visiting ordinary places and people, in favor of places that the average person finds utterly freakish. Travelers will be more interested in visiting places and regions shrouded in mystery such as the Bermuda Triangle.As a matter of fact, up to 38 per cent of travelers are excited at the prospect of visiting space. Those mysterious regions and places, be they terrestrial or extraterrestrial, will now be open for real tourism.

And there goes our rundown on some of the expected travel trends this year and beyond. Remember that most of these are already with us. So whether you are a traveler or travel facilitator, you have no choice but to adjust in favor of these monumental changes.