I was part of a class at Oxford Brookes university last week. These were some of the trends and ideas I shared from personal observations over the last 12 months.
1. Community Experiences for All
Ok, so this is nothing new but are community tourism experiences now finally building up a head-of-steam? At Tribewanted we’ve seen an increase in the number of young families wanting their children to have authentic cultural experiences as early as possible in life, rather than simply resort recovery-time. This also seems to be happening alongside the reaction to the ‘McDonaldisation of Tourism’ (Golf-courses everywhere) that Leo Hickman argues convincingly in his book The Final Call. This is happening in the tourist guide space too – Tripbod offers ‘your friend at the other end’.
2. Digital Detoxing
We all knew this was going to happen. Right? Silicon valley uber-geeks heading to the hills at the weekend for an iLife amnesty, for a few hours at least. In reality this deliberate ‘disconnect to reconnect’ trend is something we’ve seen in our mirrors for a while. The number of surf n yoga retreats on offer shows this. But it feels like the need to hand-over our techno tools in order to relax and revive means we’ve reached a new point where a health problem at work is now an opportunity for travel and tourism.
3. Pop-up Hotels
Ok, it’s just glorified camping or Glamping as we know it. But by reframing and marketing as ‘pop-up’ alongside the trend in retail, are we likely to see this grow especially at events and festivals? This year we’ve seen it at Glastonbury and with urban pop-ups.
4. Home is your Hotel room
One name has dominated them all – Airbnb – who have successfully monetised the trend that Couchsurfing was the first to explode online. This year Airbnb is expected to book 55 million ‘bednights’. That’s 50% of any of the major hotel chains and the company isn’t even a decade old! As with the trust in crowdfunding their seems to be a growing acceptance of ‘staying with a stranger’ and the businesses that provide a great online user experience are profiting. See also: One Fine Stay, Housetrip, Sleepout, Kippsy.
5. The End of the Stars
Could 2013 finally be the year when industry-led star ratings are overtaken by peer-led reviews? Tripadvisor has been disrupting this space for a while. With the rise of guest and host locked-in review systems like Airbnb (you review each other) are we going to see less bitchin’ and more honesty? Do hotel stars still matter?
Great observations Ben! The interest in the sharing economy and travel is really growing and it’s exciting to be part of it! I’m part of a new home exchange website called CasaVersa, which helps you to swap your home for vacations. Home exchange is peer to peer sharing based on trust – which is at the heart of the sharing economy. We’re a great way for people to have an authentic experience when they’re traveling by staying in a real home and living like a local. Hope you can try it sometime!
Vry nice, thanks for sharing. thnks a lot.