Travel Trends with Original Travel | LCC Member
We like to stay ahead of the curve – we are Original Travel, after all. Our team is always looking to the future and using their combined expertise to predict which trends will be rocking the travel industry in the year to come.
We were ahead of the game in predicting - and responding to - the rise of train travel and the appetite for undertourism. This year, we are putting our money on holidays centred around simple pleasures, based on clients increasingly asking for pared back trips that focus on basic joy-giving experiences. Think quality time spent with family (both as a tribe and one on one); walking in beautiful surroundings; sleeping under canvas; foraging from the land; taking the train; watching riverbanks drift by from a boat: discovering somewhere untouched; staying somewhere owned and run by locals, learning about a culture through its food. No gimmicks, no fads, just travel in its purest, most perfect form. The perfect antidote to busy, modern life.
You can read more about how Simple Pleasures can be manifested in all its forms in the latest issue of our magazine, Original Traveller. Order from our website here.
The magazine also features our annual travel trends section – the what’s hot and what’s not in the world of travel.
TAKING OFF
+ Citizen science
Divers, it’s time to get deep. On your next trip, see beyond the colourful coral and immerse yourself in marine conservation while volunteering on projects that help protect seas and their species.
Image Credit: Marianna Jamadi, Mukul Beach Golf & Spa
+ Michelin Eurostars
We’re loco about Eurostar’s new premium dining menu. Four courses, two Michelin stars and one very excellent way to start a trip to the culinary capital of the world and beyond.
Image Credit: Faustine Poidevin
+ Maps
The old school map is back! A whole new generation are plotting their adventures on paper maps, rather than GPS. The burning question: can they master the lost art of the ‘refold’?
Image Credit: Un Cercle
+ Trains
Happy 200th birthday to the modern railway. Thanks for all the scenery and games of eye spy, for speeding us up, but also reminding us to slow down and look around once in a while.
Image Credit: Droit Résérves
+ Faceboarding
Your face is, quite literally, your passport. Several airports are trialling ‘faceboarding’; using facial recognition in lieu of a passport. Will it work reliably? We can but dream...
Image Credit: Faustine Poidevin
+ ‘Itwineraries’
We always recommend direct flights (fewer take-offs = fewer emissions), but what to do when that’s not possible? Introducing ‘Itwineraries’, where you turn a layover into a stayover and enjoy a mini break in the connecting city.
GROUNDED
- Rawdogging
The preposterous practice of flying in a Zen-like state has been dubbed ‘rawdogging’. No movie, no books, no podcasts, no point. Next.
Image Credit: Faustine Poidevin
- The Mediterranean
The Med is dead (in summer at least). Avoid scorching temperatures with a ‘coolcation’ instead; think Norwegian fjords, Swedish archipelagos or snow-capped Dolomites.
Image Credit: Carlota Weber Mazuercos
- ‘Changi’ng out
Apparently, people are booking flights with intentionally long connections in Singapore’s Changi Airport to enjoy the facilities. If you know these people, kindly put them in touch. We can give them much better ideas. Next slide please.
- One-week family holiday
We’re all going on a (six-week) summer holiday. More families are using the long summer break for a mini sabbatical, taking the children away on an epic, multi-destination trip. Beats a week in Bognor.
Image Credit: Droits Résérves
As well as thematic trends - the ‘how’ of travel – we (of course!) also have our finger on the pulse of the ‘where’ of travel; the hottest – and coolest – places to visit for the year ahead. From K-culture in South Korea to exciting new properties in Nepal and under-the-radar gems like Picos de Europa, the magazine is chockful of destination inspiration.
Order the latest edition of Original Travel’s magazine here.