Tourism and 2010 – What’s coming?

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JBloggs

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Tourism and 2010 – What’s coming? article here[/h1]In 2009 I heard so much talk about tourism being an elected excess and not a necessity. It was a pretty interesting year for the industry with the global economic crisis bringing some predictable and not-so-predictable trends to the field. It seems that there was a general increase in domestic tourism, visiting countries closer to home, VFR (visiting friends and relatives), and basically a focus on ‘budget travel’. These are however the trends we were exposed to frequently due to the impact of the crisis. Looking a bit deeper we would also see a growth in faith tourism, an increase of travelers to Africa, a growing focus on responsible travel, and, of course, major advancements of online travel tools.
So what can we look forward to in 2010? Here’s my five cents worth:
General[/h2]
Finding the fun[/h4]Consumers will look for fun destinations allowing them to escape from the economic pressures of the work environment.
Airlines[/h4]increased focus and growth of low cost carriers with consumers look for affordable ways of reaching destinations and having more disposable income to spend when they are there
Value for money[/h4]Food and drinking experiences and value for money will be important factors for selecting destinations – consumers want to indulge and have a good time but are looking for excellent value.
Trips[/h2]
African Inbound Madness[/h4]The 2010 Soccer World Cup hosted by South Africa will continue bringing a massive influx of travelers to the continent.
Poorism[/h4]Slumming… Township Tourism… call it what you will. This form of tourism has fired up some serious disagreement between those seeing it as a way of engaging tourism positively to financially aid poor communities, and those who see it as an invasion of privacy. Either way, between traveler’s growing need to gain ‘real-life’ experiences and the industry’s strong focus on poverty relief, this concept should show ongoing growth in the new decade.
Green Everything[/h4]Besides booking green accommodation, travelers are gaining more and more access to culturally and environmentally sustainable tours, transports and activities (a number ofgreen travel products are also available online and on the shelves). My guess is that in 2010 more travelers’ perception of ‘green travel’ will shift from rough and niche, to necessary and trendy.
Packaged Personally[/h4]Given the economic pressures and random security threats facing our world more consumers are looking for that safe and all-inclusive travel opportunity. No wonder cruise ships and trips are becoming bigger, longer and fully booked despite the economic challenges.
Traveler Profile[/h2]
*Even* more selective[/h4]Yes my friends, I am afraid what I am saying is that travelers will become more selective and picky before and during their trips in the year to come. An exciting challenge for marketers, and absolute nightmare for those still lacking service quality. Have a looksy atthis post (via Geekdad).
*Even* more lazy[/h4]With real-time information and the opinions of others at their fingertips, travelers will engage less in their own primary travel research. Another reason to become actively involved in social media.
Virtual[/h4]Aside from accepting advice online, more travelers will engage in creating, rating, and posting personal travel content online.
Tech[/h2]
Mobile[/h4]More apps, more maps, more mobile. Don’t forget the anticipated Nexus One and possible iSlate.
Packaging info in a whole new way[/h4]With media and written content being distributed electronically, we should see some awesome digitally packaged travel kits. The best I have seen so far is the Complete National Geographic on 160-GB Hard Drive.
Design[/h2]
Virtual tours[/h4]Looking at sites like 360cities, it comes as no surprise that virtual tours and panoramic images are becoming more popular amongst marketers and DMO’s for replacing online image galleries by combining visual with factual information. Since this is quite new on the map, I am excited to see what role it will play in tourism marketing in 2010 and onwards.
Improved design standards among SMME’s[/h4]As more small hospitality establishments are investing in a new online presence (as a means of keeping up with technological growth and online booking opportunities), many of them will (hopefully) combine this with a rebranding process if necessary. Maybe we can finally break away from the luminous neon palm tree travel logos from the 80’s and 90’s.
Conclusion: tourists in search of fun places, sociable spaces, low carbon traces, local faces, soccer aces, slow paces.[/h2]
 
So basically all geekdad wants is a way to shut his kids up for a couple of hours while he, what? Showers? He's not going to, I HOPE, leave the kids alone while he and the wife go out for dinner. So, this is the kind of guest I need to cater to? The one who sits in the room with video games beeping and crashing in the wee hours?
Save me. Send me the old geezers whose only complaint is there's no elevator.
I, too, like some of the other posters, do not get why you go on vacation to do the same thing you do at home. Just different scenery? "I got a billion points on my x-box on vacation! Where? I dunno. Some safari thing my parents dragged me on."
 
Mortie you really need to make that your siggie line, I love it! It cracked me up:
"Send me the old geezers whose only complaint is there's no elevator."
 
Mortie you really need to make that your siggie line, I love it! It cracked me up:
"Send me the old geezers whose only complaint is there's no elevator.".
Joey Bloggs said:
Mortie you really need to make that your siggie line, I love it! It cracked me up:
"Send me the old geezers whose only complaint is there's no elevator."
It is kinda catchy, isn't it?
 
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