New Post has been published on The Rakyat Post
New Post has been published on http://www.therakyatpost.com/columnists/2014/10/03/travel-trends-2015/
Travel trends for 2015
It is around this time — the start of October and the last quarter of the year — that I start thinking about where to go in the following twelve months, if I haven’t thought of that already.
The end of the year is also an indication if certain travel-related trends that developed over the past few months might carry on into the following year.
Fads like glamping, or “glamourous camping” (think: safari tents fitted with plush carpets and luxurious beds with Egyptian cotton sheets) come and go, but now and again certain trends will arise out of a change in lifestyle or a shift in preferences.
Mobile services in travel
Over the next few years, travel-related companies are expected to introduce new uses for customers to use smartphones when they’re travelling.
I’m not just talking about mobile hotel or flight bookings, which we have been able to do for some time already and which are expected to double in 2015.
A recent development is that passengers on Delta Airlines have been able to make in-flight purchases via smartphones since August 2013.
As for future developments, travel website McCoolTravel says that international hotel chains, like Starwood and Hilton hotels, are presently working on mobile apps that will allow smartphones to be used for self-service check-ins and as room keys.
The increasing reliance on smartphones all over the world will only mean that we can expect more of such developments in the years to come.
The shift towards more specific, activity-based travel
I would not say that the days of travellers being content with a day at the beach or just sightseeing are over, but nowadays more people travel with a specific activity or goal in mind.
Trips are made to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro, hikers go to Kathmandu to climb Mount Everest or at the very least to hike to Everest Base Camp and divers book trips to diving spots around the world.
This is not what only young people do — one of my grand aunts climbed Machu Picchu in Peru in her 70s.
Travelling somewhere to do something clear-cut is not new in itself, but we’ll see more of that happening for the simple reason that travellers, quite rightly, have become fussier now and are particular about what they want to see and do.
Greater control over travel plans
With the preference for specific travel experiences, comes the freedom to plan.
Even though a traveller may have bought a package from a travel agency, the better agencies understand that its customer might like to be given an opportunity to plan his own trips.
It is likely, therefore, that over time, it will be the norm to provide travellers with the option to choose routes, activities and day trips within their tour packages.
Exploring in greater detail
The world has grown smaller and unless you’re travelling to Antarctica, which thousands of people have already gone to, there isn’t any country in this world that hasn’t been explored.
So what’s happening and will continue to happen is that instead of just finding new places to visit, travellers will explore their surroundings in greater detail.
Nowadays nobody can say, “I’ve been somewhere nobody else has,” and because travellers want something more from their travels, they will choose to go deeper into their adventures.
This applies to Malaysian travellers as well.
More Malaysians are hiking, trekking, living with locals and camping in the great outdoors, in other words, travelling in a more challenging style.
While there will always be people who are happy to go on tours, travellers generally will continue to become better independent explorers.
Anis Ibrahim
*Anis Ibrahim also writes at ‘Five Foot Traveller’.