A recent Adventure Travel Trade Association study of 187 operators in 51 countries found changes in operators’ products and marketing approaches are planned for next year. The ATTA study increased interest in these areas:
• Custom itineraries: 84 percent (i.e., 84 percent of operators reported an increased interest)
• Shorter duration trips: 73 percent
• Closer-to-home, shorter haul trips: 55 percent
• Activity based adventures: 79 percent
• Cultural-interaction adventures: 70 percent
• Volunteering within travel: 40 percent
• Multigenerational travel: 55 percent
In line with traveler shifts, approximately half of the tour operators intend to offer more variety of inventory in 2010, with very few reporting a reduction in product offerings
“Meanwhile, operators also reported that travelers are booking trips closer to the actual time of departure,” the study found.
”Thirty-five percent of tour operators believe that travelers’ shorter booking windows are here to stay or that the period will be even shorter than it is now.”
Finally, one third of operators believe that the booking window in the future will be completely unpredictable.
By David Wilkening
