Peter Kerkar feels holiday-makers are looking for more personal stories and becoming conscientious and adventurous

Not all those who wander are lost, says J R R Tolkein in The Lord of the Rings. And it seems that the Indian traveller has taken it to heart and is travelling like never before and in different directions.

Travel to influence

For a Gen X’er or a millennial, travelling to new places, exploring new experiences, trying out new cuisines and interacting with people from diverse cultural backgrounds have become an intrinsic part of their lifestyle. This passionate generation of travellers is more likely to make its travel decisions based on the travel posts of their peers on social media as it has become an authentic source of information. At the same time, it is important for them to capture their best travel stories through photos and videos and inspire their circle of friends and colleagues to take up travel. Wi-fi enabled places and hotels are a bliss for such travellers as it enables them to post live updates.

Far and beyond

What drives travellers to pursue their travel dream is curiosity. A rising number of them are keen on exploring what’s beyond the frequently visited and found at some of the most remote locations in the world. On the basis of travel-searches made by holidaymakers in 2018, there is an evident trend of rising interest in places beyond city centres and conventional tourist spots. To unravel the hidden secrets and visit the untouched lands are latest trends. Following the footsteps of Charles Darwin, a new tribe of travellers is making its way to the Galapagos archipelago to experience the endemic species and inhabited islands. Similarly, cruising through Norwegian fjords to reach the remote shores of Svalbard, watching the passing shining glaciers and stunning landscapes, are on the wanted list.

Walking Tours

Each place, if observed carefully, tells you multiple stories about its history, culture, biodiversity, geography, food, architecture and people. Many travellers consider exploring destinations on foot as the best way to delve into several intricate aspects of the place, which one might miss otherwise. This is why many passionate travellers are relying more on guided walking tours to enjoy the experience. Though city walks are the most common form, there is a gradual interest of moving to food walks, cultural trails and photography strolls among others, according to the specific hobby of the traveller. For instance, while a heritage walk in South Mumbai is common, one can get introduced to unusual sea creatures in the city during a guided marine walk near Haji Ali. Similarly, gourmet walking tours in France offer an amazing experience of the foodies and wine pairing, cooking classes, gourmet restaurants and even a bit of local culture like cheese and truffles. Travelling on foot also offers the opportunity to spend sufficient time at any given place, explore the local culture and reach inaccessible spots. Walking tours at Machu Picchu are a great window to explore the colossal mountains, lush vegetation and ecological wonders while the forest trails of Japan are equally resplendent. We expect this type of itinerary will feature in the list of more travellers in the coming year.

Luxury Travel

Luxury travel is growing, faster than it did in the past five years. Over the next decade, the growth rate for luxury travel is projected to be at 6.2 per cent, be it on cruises, camps or heritage stays. There are several factors influencing the decision to opt for luxury travel. While the developing nations are at the forefront of the growth acceleration curve, an increase in the disposable incomes in these countries is favourable to luxury travel. Although currency fluctuations in different nations slightly affected the segment, it has made the developed nations seek luxury travel at further discounted prices, fuelling the growth. 

Dark tourism

Curious travellers always want to explore every nook and cranny, which is filled with unforeseen surprises and great adventures. This lot steps out to experience things that they have never seen before, even if it’s something weird. Some people find it thrilling and entertaining to visit mysterious places, like Kuldhara village in Rajasthan, that are believed to be haunted. While others may visit tragic sites such as Cambodian Killing Fields memorial or Berlin Wall in Germany, some also visit the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero when in New York.  Though for most travellers visiting the sites of death and disaster is only a part of a wider range of things to do, some wish to review these chapters in history and remind themselves of these incidents. 

Beating Overtourism

The year 2019 is set to make the holidaymakers more discerning and conscious. Although there is a trend of travellers being more sensitive towards geopolitical and other related issues, of late these factors have started influencing the travellers’ decision. 

Spending a holiday stuck in long queues or crowded streets on a leisure trip is a no-no. While Italy is using phone apps to deal with overcrowding by giving real-time updates, Dubrovnik is experimenting with dispersing cruise timings through the week. While such measures are being undertaken at all major tourist hubs, travellers are modifying their plans to help curb overtourism at an individual level.

In 2019, we will see more travellers taking trips in off-season to ensure visit to their favourite place while not being part of the chaos. New destinations near the saturated ones benefit as a result. 

Responsible Travel

There is no running away from the fact that much devastation has rocked our oceans, beaches, forests and islands. Since most are tourist places, the onus of the situation must be borne by the travellers as well as operators. Pollution of different forms has started hitting the business as well as non-economic aspects of societies, including indigenous tribes, local ecology, ecosystems and more. However, the good part is that there are organisations and operators that have highest regards for sustainability. They will take the centrestage in 2019. Travellers, including majorly the millennials, consider themselves equally responsible for the disaster and are duty-bound to reverse it. The New Year will see a spurt in the number of responsible travellers demanding sensitive travel packages as well as sustainable operators to ensure a guilt-free tour. Plastic-free travel, voluntourism, sustainable and green tours are predicted to be extensively used terms in the travel space.

(The author is the Group CEO of a travel company.)