The latest revolution in travel has brought in a new set of belief system and we believe that it is for the better
Some new terminologies have been added to the lexicon of tours and travelling, and here we are, trying to navigate the absolute favourite of travel trends that are snowballing. As travellers set sail in all pomp and revelry, what practices have been shunned as anachronistic and irrelevant?
Here is the list of five practices that are being done with.
The scrolling euphoria had got swathes of AI-generated photos in the past year. It was a make-believe, fairytale world powered by deep fake and photoshop. The many possibilities of AI led to a gamut of artificial pictures looking creepily authentic. It is predicted that the AI exhilaration is all set to die down completely in the coming year as tourists respond to more authentic and novel travel experiences as soup for the soul. Immersive travel entails retreats to farmhouses, small residential units, budget homestays, and boutique hotels, and is designed to lend more genuine and holistic travel experiences.
The coming years signal the twilight of the raging popularity of austere hotel chains with sleek glass and polished marble floors. Travellers are fast embracing sustainable and innovative accommodation tucked away in the calm serenity of pristine nature. Sustainable accommodation is an undeniable part of sustainable tourism and it involves economic, environmental, and cultural sustainability doing away with the endless supply and demand chain typical of a capitalist-consumerist society.
Hyperactivity is a thing of the past. Almost all wanderlust believers have been dragged from one tourist hub to the next in a trance-like state just for the sake of it, and, clearly, that is enough already! Post-pandemic, the flurry of revenge travel to make for all the time lost quarantined at home was most discernible. The tourism industry is approaching slow travel which slows down the rush from drifting places and encourages leisure and calm. The purpose is to relish the place and languish; to pause, wander, and fully engage in languorous meals.
Over the years, fast fashion has been steadily at the helm of frenzied and acquisitive shopping tours and meaningless capitalistic consumption. Shopping tours were a hallmark of visiting a new place. In the years past, retail therapy literally sold tour packages with the bonus allure of acquainting tourists with local history and lifestyle. Travellers are becoming more cognizant of their purchases, and are instead partaking in mindful shopping and recommence. A trend that has managed to dispel such shopping extravaganza is hobbiday—a blend of holidays and hobbies. Hobbiday encompasses the vast range of artistic hobbies that travellers barely manage to engage in their monotonous lives. So, they curate each trip in a way that gives them the liberty of exploring art and craft from different settings, and preferably closer to nature.
Millennials are in their shoulder season era, and it is one of the best-kept secrets of travelling well. What has led to the dramatic rise of shoulder season travel? Besides the economy, global climate crises, awareness regarding sustainability, and shifting lifestyle habits. Tourists are keener on budget tripping instead of putting a strain on their finances by visiting a place when tourists are at an all-time high with an inexplicable surge in transport and accommodation prices. As off-season travelling has forayed in, the idea of budget tourism and enhanced immersion into a physical location has gained momentum.
