‘Experience’ tourism to shape the future of travel

Increasing numbers of people will look for “life experiences” as the lure of the beach continues to fade, a debate on the future of travel was told.

Nigel Gifford, managing director of adventure tour operator High and Wild, said the age of the Internet and satellite television is fuelling people’s desires to travel further afield and to experience different cultures.

Gifford, speaking at TravelMole’s travel industry question time on the future of travel and tourism, claimed tourists want to “satisfy their curiosity.”

“This is being influenced by modern communications,” said Gifford. “There is so much information and so many programmes covering all different parts of the world. People are looking for life experiences and to satisfy their curiosity. They tell us they’ve had enough of the more accepted form of holiday of going to a beach and being herded around on a package deal.”

Even families with young children are turning to adventure, continued Gifford, while parents with 16-year-olds are using adventure as a “bonding experience.”

But Sunvil Holidays managing director Noel Josephides urged delegates to “cut through the hype.”

“This is not a big market. It’s probably around 150,000 so not everyone is rushing to go on an adventure holiday,” he said.

Josephides admitted however that his own company is targeting long haul growth to offset the fall in customer spend on traditional holidays to Greece and Cyprus.

Self-catering for tour operators, meanwhile, has no future he said, as Brits have “colonised” Europe by snapping up properties overseas.

“Each of them acts as hotel by feeding accommodation to the web,” said Josephides. “The market is finished as far as tour operators are concerned.”

Cendant chief operating office Chris Vukelich agreed there is “growing phenomenon of travel products” such as archaeology digs, learning a foreign language and cookery, but added people do still want the beach.

ABTA president and director of Personal Service Travel Martin Wellings said the industry still believes that customers only take one holiday a year.

“But they are travelling up to three times a year,” he said. “They want an adventure, perhaps a city break and also the beach.”

Earlier, Jospehides said the golden age of cheap travel will come to an end as spiralling fuel surcharges send ticket prices soaring, although Wellings predicted fuel efficient aircraft would ensure cheap travel is with us “for the foreseeable future.”

Report by Steve Jones