The purpose of travel has always been to encounter new cultures. Many tourists today want more from their vacations than just lounging on a beach, seeing a crowded tourist attraction, or touring a museum.
The intelligent traveler of today expects more from a trip than the typical tourist does.
Experience tourism is a growing trend in the travel business. This is the case when a visitor to the selected location partakes in a particular activity.
Millennials are the group most drawn to experiencing tourism. This age group is delaying buying homes and many other material possessions in favor of the once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
A 2020 Harris Group survey found that 72% of millennials prefer to spend their money on trips or experiences.
There are numerous varieties of experience tourism available. Companies that offer tours have been keeping an eye on these developments and are creating packages that reflect them.
Booking these excursions and activities as part of a vacation experience saw a surge in 2020.
Everyone who travels has a different view of what the ideal travel experience is. The era of drab and routine holidays is long gone.
More customers from all age and socioeconomic categories will seek out their own distinctive travel experiences as the trend toward travel experiences continues.
People will be ready to resume travel now that the pandemic is ending and will be more enthusiastic than ever about the experience.
This brings is to the various types of experience travel
Most Popular Experience Travel Categories
Tourism is traveling from one location to another, either within your country’s borders or across the borders, for leisure, educational, medical, or other reasons.
In recent years, the tourism industry has experienced significant growth because of the change in people’s lifestyles, reduced air travel charges, and thirst for education.
The type of tourism depends on why you choose to travel to the specified destination; hence, there are various types of travel experiences.
Gastronomy & Foodie tourism
People who travel for the purpose of sampling various cuisines may take these kinds of excursions. This is also referred to as foodie travel. Street food walking tours, wine tastings, restaurant visits, and even ethnic cuisine cooking classes are just a few of the alternatives available in this specialty.
Culture Tourism
This is the epitome of local existence. For the most genuine cultural experience, travelers can engage in local traditions or stay with natives when they engage in culture tourism. Additionally, this can refer to volunteering one’s time while on vacation for a particular cause or charity. This is known as voluntourism.
Heritage Tourism
Many people are starting ancestry or heritage tours in an effort to learn more about their origins now that DNA testing is readily accessible and reasonably priced. A lot of customers have made travel arrangements based on their DNA results. They might go to museums or perhaps a local festival while they’re there.
Adventure Tourism
Numerous tour operators are available to assist customers in achieving their goals if an active outdoor adventure is what they envision as the ideal holiday experience. Adventure tourism has numerous forms, including zip lining, surfing, safaris, and hiking. Tours are offered in riskier activities like skydiving and mountain climbing for those who enjoy extreme adventure.
Dark Tourism
The macabre or darker aspects of world history are explored through a form of tourism known as “dark tourism.”
Examples of this include visiting places from World War II, such as Auschwitz or Dachau concentration camps.
Catacombs beneath major cities like Paris are popular with adventurous types who enjoy seeing the rows of bones from overflowing 17th-century graves.
Visitors curious about natural disasters may travel to the historic city of Pompeii to tour the remains and see the residents who were buried in the ash on that tragic day in 79 AD.
Luxury Experiences
Travel packages are available to individuals who want the finest and have the money to pay for it.
Customers can spend time in opulent hotel rooms or homes that are very different from their current residences. In this market, a personalized experience is prioritized as well. The traveler communicates any special preferences or requirements to the accommodation, which then makes all necessary arrangements prior to the guest’s arrival.
The purpose of travel has always been to encounter new cultures. Many tourists today want more from their vacations than just lounging on a beach, seeing a crowded tourist attraction, or touring a museum. The intelligent traveler of today expects more from a trip than the typical tourist does.
Wellness Tourism
This tourism trend is expanding quite quickly. The wellness industry generated around $639 billion in revenue in 2017 and is expected to increase by nearly 7.5 percent year through 2022.
For individuals who want to take some time to indulge themselves, spa experiences can be arranged.
They can book a variety of spa and cosmetic services, including a romantic massage. In the field of wellness tourism, India has emerged as a leader.
Yoga sessions, retreats focused on meditation, and a variety of other wellness activities are all widely available in India.
The Power of Unique Experience Travel
Travel has the power to inspire, transform, and in at least one case, keep a person alive. Edward Readicker-Henderson published his account in National Geographic Traveler a few years ago.
He was told to prepare for his burial after being given a terminal illness diagnosis, but he kept organizing global adventures instead.
According to him, his tale was “the tale of how every place I visit ultimately affects how I’m going to live.
Ignore your bucket list. My own existence is literally sustained by my travels. He said that the silence was “that quiet there, you can’t tell if you’re hearing your heartbeat or the sound of ocean waves going up through all those miles of Earth” after ascending the crater of Maui’s Haleakala Volcano, the second-largest Hawaiian island.
People like Readicker-Henderson serve as examples of the emotional impact that travel may have. Rich travel experiences serve as a reminder of the beauty of the world and our interconnectedness with it.
Travelers yearn most for this sensation of connection. the desire to run away from everything we know and land on the other side of the planet, only to feel completely lost and confused and try to find some serenity there.
But therein lies the magic: the most memorable travel encounters lead us to far-off locations to forge connections with strangers and see things we never imagined, and it is through these singular travel encounters that we come to understand the significance of the world and our tiny role in it.
The New Technology And Experience Travel Revolution
Adam Sachs struggles with the growing trend of tourists wanting to connect with a place, especially by getting to know informed people.
The social aspect of travel, he says, “is now a significant industry. Travel agents have therefore hired locals with knowledge of the area to tour you around. The new value-added is unfiltered access, relationships, and insight.
The kind of local we want to meet, in Sach’s perspective, is “someone with a take on a location, a tale to tell, a passion or specific expertise.”
Travelers who decide to “go our own way and hope for the best” may be surprised by how sophisticated and downright envious the kinds of pairings offered by specialty tour operators and high-end personal concierge services can be.
According to the author, more and more specialty travel services are meeting this demand.
There are many mitigating factors, but some of the key players are the new technical solutions that are emerging.
“The shift goes beyond enhancing processes or the tourist experience; it entails reinventing the tourism system itself,” said Salvador Anton Clavé, Director of Eurecat’s Tourism Innovation Department, during the Forum TurisTIC de Barcelona event.
We are taking part in the development of new business models, as well as process, customer, and relationship enhancements. All of this inevitably results in advantages for the traveler, allowing them to streamline and frequently improve the vacation preparation process.
Similar sentiments have recently been expressed by Arjan Dijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Booking.com, who said that “in this new decade, we’ll see how the travel industry tries to respond to the needs of a type of traveler more concerned with sustainability, and with more tech knowledge or curiosity, through developing products, functions, and services make discovering the world easier for all.”
We’ll then look at some of the technological developments that are already having an impact on the market and that, based on numerous studies, are expected to have a big short-term impact on it.
Technology Solutions Impacting Experience Travel
1. Mobile Technology
The protagonist of the new modes of transportation is unquestionably this. Our cell phones now serve as our tour guide, travel agency, best restaurant finder, map, and other functions.
Throughout the entire purchasing process, it is by our side. In fact, 45% of users, according to TripAdvisor, use their smartphones for all aspects of their vacations.
To accommodate these gadgets, corporate services and communications must be modified. For instance, KLM has already developed a Facebook Messenger-based information service for travelers.
Once a reservation is made, this system provides the user their boarding card, ticket information, and updates about the status of their flight via Facebook Messenger.
By using an app they already own, the user can have all the information they need regarding their journey in the palm of their hand without having to download anything additional.
2. Augmented Reality
Due to all the opportunities they can provide, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have also joined the travel industry.
More businesses are using technology to show customers a stateroom on a cruise ship or briefly transport them to the Great Wall of China.
Today, we don’t even need to leave the sofa to “teleport” to the farthest reaches of the world.
By using the EVEREST VR software, which allows you to view the top of the planet without having to climb there, you can obtain this. Alternatively, if you’d like, you can paddle across the Grand Canyon while taking in its views and sounds.
3. Internet of Things (IoT)
The tourism sector is expected to experience considerable changes as a result of the Internet of Things (IoT). They incorporate Internet-connected sensors into a variety of products, such as automobiles, luggage, buildings, and more.
The Internet of Things “is going to be the key revolutionary force in the personalization of the consumer experience over the next few years,” according to Spain’s Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero (ITH).
Customers at some Virgin Hotel locations can interact with the thermostat or the television in their rooms using an app.
In order to prevent lost luggage at the airport or other public locations, some suitcases feature electronics that let owners use their cell phones to track where their suitcase is at any time.
4. Virtual Assistants
The virtual assistants Siri and Alexa, which can answer questions like “what’s the weather like today in my city,” “turn on the radio,” “open my email,” and other common queries, are well-known to us all.
Due to the introduction of virtual assistants created expressly for this setting, hotels are now beginning to employ this “help.” Watson Assistant, an AI-powered virtual assistant that offers users a customized and engaging experience, was just released by IBM.
This is the open technology that businesses can use and customize to their needs. By doing this, Watson won’t be the name of the virtual assistant; instead, the hotel will choose the name.
5. Big Data
Big Data has received a lot of attention lately, but its potential benefits for the travel sector have not yet been fully demonstrated. But a lot of industry participants are already utilizing it.
The Meliá hotel chain determines the optimal target for marketing initiatives by using information about its customers. In order to create the most accurate customer profile and increase their success rate, they first look at their database to look at the amount spent, the reason for the trip, and the nation of origin and cross-check this information with open data from government sources.
They can improve the segmentation of their campaigns in this way to boost their effectiveness and minimize the amount of money needed to run them.
6. Blockchain
The world as we know it is about to change thanks to a technology called blockchain. Despite being mostly related to finance, it also seems to have an effect on travel.
Although there hasn’t been a lot of testing, it may be useful for identifying travelers at the airport, ensuring honesty in visitors’ reviews, and facilitating safe and simple payments.
7. 5G
With the aid of 5G networks, travel technology becomes even more potent. They guarantee significantly quicker download and upload times, more coverage, and more reliable connections.
Beyond making content downloads 20 times faster than before, 5G opens up new technological possibilities for us that were previously restricted by 4G.
As a result, smart device connections will be more effective, and we’ll be able to begin fully utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT).
Travelers will actually become the protagonist of their experiences thanks to technology, which is known as immersive tourism. Additionally, 360-degree video and augmented reality (AR) will be increasingly widely used and available.
