In the 21st century, what was confined to science fiction movies is now becoming reality, especially in the travel industry. Robots are making their way into the tourism industry, but traditional travel related aspects such as exotic destinations and authentic local food will continue to remain important in 2015.
New Destinations Emerge
A marked trend observed in 2015 is an increase in reservations to upcoming destinations like Africa and Asia. As more and more people are able to afford travel to foreign destinations, those that have been regularly traveling are looking forward to having spectacular experiences. Further, travel conditions are improving by leaps and bounds, leading to opening up of newer destinations in countries around the world. This in turn is significantly widening the scope for a wide range of travel experiences. At the top position in the list of most interesting travel destinations in 2015 is Okinawa, referred to as Hawaii of Japan. Further, introduction of technology into the industry is impacting tourists in a great way.
A key development in the recent times is what is termed as braggies, which are selfies that people make use of to brag about places they have visited.
Travelers are also increasingly focusing their attention on future. For instance, they are widely utilizing a technology by name Botlr. These robots were initially used in airports. However, they are now being used in hotels with a view to automate some of the processes that customers have always found to be very annoying. This has made it possible to automatically make hotel and airline reservations.
Authentic Experiences
Another trend that is being observed in 2015 is the increased interest of travelers in meeting with the locals and understanding their true culture. WTW Global Tendencies Report shows that websites like bookalokal.com and Eatwith.com are rapidly expanding their operations. While the former is created by a network of locals in many destinations to provide lessons in cooking and meal preparation, the latter site links travelers and home cooks.
Airbnb has influenced these websites in a strong manner. Guests research the hosts and then rate them on the basis of a combination of factors such as locale, meals and cleanliness. It is predicted that many websites like these will see a spurt in growth in the near future. Savvy travelers of the 21st century are attaching a great deal of importance to connecting with local people and having authentic experiences.
This is because travelers want to have a true experience and appreciation of the country being visited by them. In fact, the average tourist, particularly those belonging to the millennial niche, does not want to feel as though he/she is a tourist. It is actually difficult to clearly define the millennials, but typically they belong to the age group 18 to 34 years. This means that the 2 billion travelers around the world belonging to the millennials category are driven by their desire to experience the lifestyles in other countries. At least, this is what has been revealed by the Tourism and Travel Trend Report for 2015.