Cassandra NervaWith travel restrictions becoming a thing of the past in the post-pandemic world, the desire for globetrotting has returned. In fact, since Oct 2022, The Travel Corporation (TTC) — the parent company of award-winning travel brands — has observed an increase in interest in luxury travel among travellers from Asia.
Also read: Our Post-Pandemic Wish List: What We Want Travel to Look Like in the Next Few Years
Tourism trends in the post-pandemic world
With this renewed desire, comes the natural question: What kinds of new travel experiences are travellers looking out for?
There has been a “growing demand in premium, luxury tours,” expressed Nick Lim, CEO (Asia) of TTC. “Many [travellers] have [indicated the desire for] exclusive and immersive travel, [with travellers hoping] to dive deeper into a city’s culture and history [and to] engage with its community.”
1. Luxury travel is on the rise
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Put simply, travellers are willing to spend more. “According to a recent survey of 500 wealthy travellers in APAC — by the International Luxury Travel Market in conjunction with affluent research specialist Altiant — almost half of the surveyed plan to spend more on holidays [now] than [on] pre-COVID trips.”
To prove this, TTC witnessed that more than 70% of its sales leads were for their premium tour brands: Insight Vacations and Trafalgar. When you book luxury tours with Insight Vacations, for instance, you’re guaranteed “true comfort and style with premium five- and four-star hotels.” Also, tour groups are “small [with] customised coaches [that have] extra leg room.”
2. Experiential, immersive experiences
Image credit: Insight Vacations Official Website
Chief among the luxury travel experiences offered by Insight Vacations and Trafalgar is experiential, immersive tourism. That is to say, with “people willing to spend more time and money, [their holiday naturally focuses] on transformative experiences rather than the typical checklist tourism where they only skim the surface.”
Image credit: Trafalgar Official Website
For one, travellers are invited to “unique dine-around and dine-at-home experiences, [allowing one to] enjoy a culinary journey through the places they visit.” Just take a look at “Trafalgar’s signature “Be My Guest” experience where guests are invited to [the] homes of locals for an authentic dinner. Surely, this would result in a “travel experience that is exclusive and enriching,” Lim added.
3. Unconventional ways of travelling
Image credit: Uniworld Boutique River Cruises Official Website
With experiential tourism, there’s also the need to think up unconventional ways of exploring a new place. Luckily, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises has pioneered this by satisfying the rising trend of river cruising. (An increase of 150% in bookings over the last six months!).
For those unaware, unlike the standard ocean liner cruise, “river cruising is a unique way to travel because ships can dock in city centres and smaller towns that are less visited.” Similarly, this makes the travel “experience more intimate and authentic.”
Image credit: Uniworld Boutique River Cruises Official Website
And of course, circling back to the trend of luxury travel, river cruising with Uniworld achieves that too. Indeed, guests are in for “an extraordinary experience because [Uniworld is] the world’s most luxurious, all-inclusive river cruise line — featuring distinctively designed ships with an average capacity of 120 guests, curated excursions, farm to table cuisine, [and more],” voiced Henry Yu, Managing Director of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (Asia).
Plus, “with people preferring to spend more time travelling at a slower pace, cruising down some of Europe’s most famous rivers seems to be the way forward.”
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4. More conscious and sustainable travel
Image credit: Insight Vacations Official Website
Lastly, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that human actions have a great impact on the environment. In the same way, our travel mindset has shifted towards “becoming more conscious, [with travellers] preferring experiential travel that is not only enriching but responsible.”
Luckily, “with TTC’s MAKE TRAVEL MATTERⓇ initiative across all the brands, guests can do good while travelling, with activities that have a positive social or environmental impact on their communities.”
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For example, on Trafalgar’s Wonders of Kenya trip, guests learn firsthand from the rangers at Ol Pejeta Conservancy about its endangered wildlife and ecosystem conservation efforts.
Also read: NATAS Travel Fair Feb 2023: The Best Deals to Europe and Beyond!
Anyone will agree that “travelling in 2023 and beyond has changed as demand for luxury travel continues to soar.” Whether you’re a “familiar face looking for a bargain [or a] traveller on the lookout for curated and premium travel experiences, [come and have] a discussion with our travel experts” at the upcoming NATAS fair with Trafalgar (booth 5H38).
Information extracted from a press release by The Travel Corporation.
Featured image credit: Francesco Riccardo Iacomino via Canva Pro
