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Lastminute.com predicts travel changes by 2020
Sunday, 14 Apr, 2010
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British travellers will take holidays that offer an escape from the constant connectivity of the modern world and source recommendations from locals instead of fellow tourists.
A report by Future Foundation for lastminute.com says the two week summer sun holiday will evolve over the next two decades.
The traditional family annual getaway will change as grandparents increasingly take the lead in taking children on trips abroad when their busy parents cannot find the time.
As consumers become increasingly well connected, and exhausted by a barrage of technological updates, a new type of break promising complete isolation from the modern world will emerge.
These breaks will offer tourists ‘thesimple life’ allowing them to get back to nature by enforcing a technological ‘black hole’ which will cut off phone signals and broadband.
Not only does this allow parents a break from relentless status updates and work pressures, but also offers a chance to show children ‘how things used to be’, according to he Future of Free Time report.
Solo travellers will look for more extreme experiences and thrills than ever before as technology allows them to experience volcanic eruptions from the safety of a helicopter, and trek through new countries which emerge as borders are re-drawn in peace time following conflict.
“Singletons will also be well equipped to hop onto a new breed of super-fast,inter-continental luxury trains. Over the coming years the train will seen as a more environmentally sound, and viable way of travelling from London to the Riviera and beyond,” according to the study.
“Grandparents are leading increasingly active lives well into their 60s and 70s. Combine this with a generation of British parents who work the longest hours in Europe, and suddenly it is the grandparents who are best equipped to take the children on their annual holiday.”
Lastminute vice president Patrick Hoffstetter said: “The next 20 years are going to bring big changes in the way we all plan and enjoy our free time.
“If that means instant recommendations from locals when planning a trip, or a guarantee that their phone will not ring on holiday, we’ll do our best to provide that.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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