(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 15, 2010 ) CHICAGO – The industry’s devoted client base will help the upturn, according to a study by TUI Travel PLC’s Adventure Travel Companies. The ‘Passport to Adventure’ report highlights a growing acceptance among consumers that specialist operators offer the best adventure travel experiences. Like most other industries, the travel world did see lower numbers in the past year due to the recession. However, the ‘Passport to Adventure’ shows that adventure travel has seen tremendous growth for 2010 through early bookings.
iExplore, a U.S. based company of TUI Travel®, supports the findings.
“Though it is still early on in 2010, we have seen increased interest from travelers – particularly for bookings between now and June,” said Chief Marketing Director Amanda Sundt. “We found this information from TUI, our parent company, extremely useful as often the US travel market mirrors some of the UK trends.”
According to the report, destinations in the non-Euro zone, like Turkey and Poland, have seen a 40% growth from 2009 while growth in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco has already grown by a whopping 80%. Long-haul destinations like Cambodia, Nepal, India and Kenya have also experienced 40% growth from 2009. Tours to Kilimanjaro are up and unprecedented 400%.
Other interesting findings from the “Passport to Adventure” report include:
o 61% of those taking small group holidays plan to take another due to the experience of meeting like minded people, an increased acceptance and safety of solo travelers, and the rise of social tools to facilitate online networking before and after travel.
o Ethical and environmental travel is expected to quadruple over the next 3 years as people are more concerned about climate change, and consumers no longer want to just “give” they wan to “do” as well.
o “off the beaten track” holidays are expected to double in the next 3 years—as people seek to find authentic travel experiences and are more aware of certain destinations due to media and travel programming.
Not only is the adventure travel market growing, but more specifically, numbers are going up for adventure travel tour operators. ‘Passport to Adventure’ shows that 5% more consumers will choose to take their adventure travel with an outfitter for their trusted level of comfort, security and destination knowledge.
“This is an extremely important report that is giving us insight for what the future of adventure travel looks like,” Sundt said. “Currently we are well equipped to offer the best quality services in the travel business. However, we also want to evolve with the needs of adventure travelers to maintain our stellar reputation as an industry leader in America.”
