What had the tourism industry come to?
For decades, the motives in the tourism and hospitality industries were to book more trips, get more heads in beds, sell add-ons, separate luxury from “budget trips”, separate business from leisure, provide sheltered and curated experiences in all-inclusive resorts or on cruises, and mostly importantly, increase revenue.
That type of messaging is what helped sculpt the belief that travel is expensive, the world is unsafe, the average person can only afford to take one or two short trips a year, and that a lifestyle that included more travel wasn’t achievable for the majority of people.
That type of messaging also helped shape the idea that only careless and crazy Millennials are the ones who can live nomadically by traveling the world, visiting lesser-known destinations, and having a more “freedom-based” lifestyle.
That type of messaging is also what put travel careers into boxes. If you want to work in the travel industry, you must either book trips as an agent, work in a hotel, be a flight attendant, or work for a company that “pays you to travel” for business.
Who knew that almost 2 years of little to no traveling for us and a huge halt to the tourism industry, things would be looked at a bit differently.
A bit more holistically.
A bit more to the truth and foundation of travel.
Expedia is calling 2022 the year of the GOAT, or the “greatest of all trips”, in their 2022 Travel Trends Report.
Expedia’s report talks about how travelers have a new mindset when it comes to experiences.
Travelers are desiring more excitement, to go off of the beaten path, to immerse in culture and with locals, to try something new and different, to feel challenged and get out of their comfort zone, and to heal mentally.
They want to travel longer, farther, and spend more time in destinations to really get to know the place.
They are redefining what “luxury” means to them.
THIS is the messaging that travel had always embodied but wasn’t brought to the forefront until now.
People aren’t caring about fancy hotel rooms or gated curated experiences. They are turning to travel to add more value to their wellbeing, personal life, relationships, and work-life.
This is something that you as a Travel Coach or travel business owner should be incorporating into your own messaging to attract your ideal audience. Figure out what matters most to YOU and what you want to help others with.
