The Adventure Collection, a consortium of ten industry-leading adventure travel companies, identified these five travel trends this year:
1. Bookings are solidly up over 2009 – as much as 35 percent.
2. The time between booking and travel has been reduced.
3. Travelers are booking based on value rather than price.
4. Pent-up demand is spurring trips with loved ones.
5. Prime travel inspirations are connection and renewal
“With more stability in the economy, we are seeing significant improvement in bookings,” said Dennis Pinto, chairman of the Adventure Collection and managing director of Micato Safaris.
“As the financial markets are rebounding, consumer confidence is improving.”
Value is a key to bookings, agreed those in the survey.
“Travelers are more value conscious than ever – even at the highest levels. Accordingly, companies need to work harder to articulate their value proposition: the importance of everything from the quality of their guides to the comprehensiveness of their emergency coverage to their sustainable travel principles and practices,” said Sven Lindblad, founder of Lindblad Expeditions.
By David Wilkening
