6 Travel trends of the future from #WTM15
It was a busy week at World Travel Market (WTM) last week. There were Caribbean cocktails, Danish gin, Slovenian brunch, dancers, performers and many many chats with many many travel brands.
If you haven’t been to WTM before it is a HUGE event where almost every country is represented under one roof. You can literally walk around the world in one day, learning about the best each country has to offer.
Thousands of travel lovers under one roof.
It is tiring but so much fun. Whether it is talking to representatives from Sri Lanka or listening to travel experts share their knowledge and experience there is loads to be gained from a few days at WTM.
The best bit of course is hanging out with all my fabulous blogger buddies, constant inspiration and nothing but fun!
While there I went to a few talks and seminars including the Traverse session on the travel trends of the future.
The speakers Ian Cumming, Sarah-Betty Andrews and Peter Jordan each shared their thoughts on what future trends are going to change the travel world. The audience then voted for which they thought was the top game changer!
Here were their thoughts on the 6 travel trends of the future.
Space Travel
Flying into outer space,
Everyone living their childhood dream to be an astronaut,
Normal people moving to live on Mars.
These all might seem like dreams, but Sarah-Betty believes this is the future! Space travelling is set to drop to as little as £2500 by 2030. Now that is just about affordable. I might have to add it to my things to do before I’m 50 list.
Earning money while you eat
Apparently people in South Korea are earning thousands by eating their dinner live on camera. I don’t know about you but this sounds like my perfect job. I love to eat, I’m really not fussed about people watching me eat and yes I would love to earn thousands a month. One girl in South Korea earns up to $9000 a month just by eating her food to a live audience of thousands who each donate a few pennies if they enjoy what they see.
Ok it kind of sounds like some weird voyeurism but with your clothes on. Though I don’t think Park Seo-yeon is complaining.
My pal Rexy says I should change my blog name to She Eats Around… what do you reckon?
Video
Now unsurprisingly this was the winner! Everyone knows video is the future, it is also the present and something that is only going to increase over the coming months and years. Video is social, it has a higher conversion rate and it is more measurable than your average blog post.
‘Video is king of content’
Whether it is Youtube, Snapchat or Periscope we are sure to see these platforms only improve and the number of users increase.
Here is one of my videos I made last year:
Time to make more and get editing!
Millennials
‘The millennials are not prepared to share the rules our parents grew up with’.
Now this is definitely something I can relate to and though I don’t fit into the ‘millennials’ category age wise, I certainly do in my mental state of mind.
Travel companies need to mix digital with physical, business with leisure, to attract the younger audience. They are not passive travellers, less interested in all inclusive holidays and package deals, but instead want a range of choices to organise their own bespoke holidays.
I definitely agree with this, which takes us on to Peter Jordan’s second prediction, which links to this one…
Not all Millennials are the same
So you might think one way fits all but it is important to think like them and listen to what they are doing online:
- Their needs change as they grow
- Look out how they interact with you and each other
- Be present and be personal
- They will ‘swipe left’ if they don’t like or understand, you don’t have long to grab their attention
- You need personalised, thoughtful and well timed customer service
Quite a lot to think about it, but worth it if you get it right.
Asia
The Asian travel market is only going to go up and up. From luxury products to luxury travels, the Asian market wants to travel more and more. This will no doubt mean we will see an increase in Asian bloggers and vloggers too. The food eating phenomenon is surely only the start!
The Asian market will soon be the biggest travel market in the world. Good job I have a few readers in the East too.
Well I eat food everyday, but nobody ever offers to pay me haha. What a job that would be!
That’s a lovely summary of what seems to be a brilliant WTM. Being from Asia it feels hopeful to learn that others see it growing but its surely some time away from meeting its potential worth.
Thank you. WTM was brilliant.
Being originally from Asia, I loved that last one! And space travel…still quivering. Should I add that to my bucket list or not?
Let’s add it to the list and hope we will be in space soon!
That job in Korea is just sooooo perfect for me. I REALLY love to eat and South Korea is one of my top dream destinations. This is an amazing article. Thank you 🙂
haha. Me too. What a fun/easy way to make a $
I really hope the space prediction is correct!
I know. Me too. Imagine!
Okay. I definitely want the job where you get paid to eat. $9000 a month. Holy Cow!