The Herman Trend Alert

December 26, 2018

Travel Trends for the Near-Term Future

The leading-edge luggage company AFAR.com has an advisory group they call their "2018 Travel Vanguard" whom they describe as "visionaries who are transforming the industry". In sharing their visions for the future of travel, six trends emerged.

1. People are looking for new ways to escape the crowds. 

Travelers are becoming weary of overcrowded attractions and long wait-times. They want to feel special and escape the excesses of tourism. For more and more travelers, having to deal with crowds of people simply spoils the entire experience.

2. Travelers long to savor tourism experiences by taking a slower pace on trips. 

We are seeing that trend in river and ocean cruises scheduling overnight stays and attempting to visit places when they are less crowded so that visitors may take their time in seeing the sights.

3. Expect more shared lodging-style options for boats and yachts. 

Given that many sea-going vessels moored in marinas and along rivers are vacant much of the time, it's only logical that their owners would want to rent them out as overnight accommodations.

4. Many tech-driven travel logistics at the touch of a button.

Some airlines are already offering à la carte food on demand through online touchscreens. Those not onboard with this digital convenience are missing a big profit opportunity. But technology is also being harnessed to create "frictionless travel." From shortened check-in lines, to digital keys, to facilitated currency exchanges, using technology and innovation to ease travelers' experiences is happening all around us and will accelerate.

5. There will be more trips designed for active seniors.

Not surprisingly, as the baby boomers are coming into their high-consumption years, they are spending more on travel to see the world. Many of them are still feeling well and enjoy dancing, hiking, and other somewhat strenuous activities.

6. More hotels are creating cool conference spaces.

As we have written about when we talked about the Hyatt San Francisco Airport, we are seeing more hotels creating small meeting spaces and adding technology to larger meeting spaces.

AFAR's Vanguard certainly came up with some fascinating travel trends. To read the entire original article, visit here.