Travel trends

Travel trends are continually changing, but here are some trends that are currently “hot”:

Staycations – don’t travel, but be a tourist in your own town, either based out of your own home, or staying in a local hotel.

Slow travel – take your time when travelling. Take a train, explore an area in depth, or take a relaxing trans-Atlantic cruise instead of that cramped trans-atlantic cattle-class flight.

Bespoke trips – really a fancy word for customized or individual trips. These are out-of-the ordinary trips for people who have done it all. See Butterfield and Robinson’s bespoke travel section.

Galcations and Mancations – Actually, the father and son fishing trips are no longer in, but apparently, holidaying with the guys is. And women-only travel (Galcations - remember, you saw the term here first!) is all the rage. See a good sample of gal-only getaways in PureCanada.

Responsible/sustainable tourism – tourism that takes into account the social and environmental preservation of an area, and is economically viable. The Trails, tales, and tunes festival in Norris Point NL is a good example of a sustainable tourism experience – taking both cultural and environmental conservation into account, and providing economic benefits to a small community outside of the regular tourist season.

Field to table tourism/locavores – local, fresh, organic foods, preferably harvested by the customer, and either cooked for you or, better yet, you learn to cook yourself from a master chef. Learn about the origins of your food, and appreciate the art of cooking with fresh ingredients. The Vancouver-based 100 mile diet sparked an entire revolution. Read about a great Canadian example – Good Earth cooking school.

Voluntourism – people no longer want to just fly and flop (fly to a resort and flop on the beach), they want to create meaningful holiday experiences. What better way than to volunteer somewhere while learning about a new culture? Earthwatch and i-to-i travel are among the best known. In Canada, go study whales in the Mingan archipelago.

Deep authenticity -Â people have been demanding real, authenthic experiences for a while now, so the newest trend is deep authenticity. Go live like a local in a small village, and learn from the neighbours. CapeRace adventures in Newfoundland is a perfect example.

Canada, Sustainable tourism, Tourism | Rogier | June 3, 2008 22:11