In the “Tourism trends for Europe 2006″ report by the European Travel Commission, I read a few interesting paragraphs about the change in travel attitude:
“As people travel more, they also become more aware of the culture and environment of the places they travel to, eand they reflect more on their own experience and lifestyle. As tourism develops, so there seems to be a shift away from purely external travel determinants (such as demography and climate), toward internal determinants, such as the desire for self-development and creative expression. As travel experiences become richter….. people are looking for deeper experiences within the communities they visit.
The more people travel, the more cultural respect, tolerance and understanding of cultural differences there should be.”
I can only say Hallelujah! This is the change we’ve seen coming too. A proof of this change in travel attitude can also be seen in the huge success of the Couchsurfing project, a community that helps you meet locals in countries you visit as a tourist.
Their vision, and the trend that the ETC sees, fit perfectly with our vision: Experiencing a city the local way is good for intercultural understanding, and good for the world!
It’s difficult to find good research on citytrips. While making our businessplan, I found tons of research about travel in general, but hardly any about city tourism specifically. This week, I tried to find some new insights on.
I think it could be helpful to share this information on our blog, because there’s so little research to be found . I’ll try to keep this article up to date, when I find some more information.
I’ll kick this article off with a lists of facts I found:
- City tourism in Europe from 1997 to 2003 for example grew twice as fast as nation-wide tourism (18.7% versus 9.9%) (source: ETC European Tourism Insights 2005)
- From 2000 to 2004, city tourism grew by as much as 108% in terms of trip volume. It now accounts for some 38% of all outbound trips (source: ETC European Tourism Insights 2005).
- IPK International’s European Travel Monitor points to a 20% rise in city trips in 2005 – five times higher than the European market’s overall growth. The vast majority of these city trips would have been for European destinations (source: ETC European Tourism Insights 2005, p. 19)
- The share of “city-breaks” in “types of holiday” increased from 17% in 1997 to 32% in 2001 among tourists questioned by ATLAS (City Tourism and Culture 2005, World Tourism Organization, p. 23).
NB: Full report here - City trips have been the fastest growth sector of European outbound travel in recent years, doubling in volume from 2000 to 2004, and now accounting for a 38% share of total European outbound trip volume. More than two-thirds of city trips (68%) are holidays, 18% for VFR and 14% for business (World Travel Market report 2005, p11).
NB: Full report here
Notes:
- Take the ETC figures with a grain of salt… Read the the full ETC European Tourism insights 2005 report, for more info on the (not so very) representativeness of these figures.
- There are also “European Tourism Insights” reports for 2006 and 2007 available, but they include fewer general data on city tourism than the 2005 version.
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PhoCusWright, a leading Travel Market research agency, is hosting a nice conference on 17 November. Too bad it’s in California…
To get the conversation started, they’ve identified seven emerging themes in the travel industry for the coming 12 to 18 months. Interesting! A short comment on on our thoughts below every theme.
1. The growth of pure Travel 2.0 businesses is slowing-dramatically.
The Travel Innovation Summit demonstrators, along with applicants who were not selected for this year’s event, described very few applications involving new social networks or pure social networking.
Well, I don’t know. I see a lot of new nice travel applications that connect seamlessly with my Linkedin or Facebook profiles: Dopplr, Tripit. But I do agree there’s a lot more opportunities there!
2. Travelers will enjoy easy access to rich subjective, objective and experiential content for trip planning.
Look for the pairing of trip planning and established social network brands and other sources of objective and subjective content. To facilitate the learning and shopping process, first movers are emerging in semantic search. Tools that facilitate an easier trip planning experience by narrowing alternatives based on profiles, stated preferences and observed behaviors are coming.
How can we not agree on this one? Rich, subjective, experiental content. Exactly what we’re providing!
3. Abundant, varied mobile applications are beginning to emerge.
Interestingly, many of the emerging mobile application innovations focus not simply on shopping and purchasing, but on a variety of content, including day-of-travel and concierge applications. Creative approaches to the mobile business model challenge also are arising.
We’re certain mobile travel applications will take off in 2009. Mobiles and travel are made for each other. Our content will be available on mobile in 2009 too…
4. The Long Tail is coming of age.
With low cost computers and more pervasive Internet access than ever, the Long Tail of travel is poised to spread beyond the traditional air, car and hotel market. Unique approaches, including Software as a Service (SaaS), are on the horizon for the effective, efficient distribution of additional content and services.
Mmm, I don’t know if that’s really what’s happening. It should start happening though! Online, there are so many niches to be filled up. What about websites for traveling families with children? Last week I talked to somebody who started a website for “backpackers on high heels” (www.backpackersonhighheels.com) Great niche (except when you take it too literally…)!
5. Air shopping is still a work in progress.
Innovators like Air Canada are redefining the airline seat as a product-think of a world where every seat is a SKU with unique characteristics and services-rather than a mere commodity. The complexities of air shopping mean new approaches are still in their infancy-with ample room to grow and mature.
I have no idea. Air shopping is not our field of work
6. Attention shifts from “learn, shop, book” in the travel value chain.
Innovators are recognizing that elements beyond “learn, shop, book” in the travel value chain can be monetized. Expect pre-trip, trip experience, and post-trip technology models to arise.
Yes! Pre-trip experience is definitely what we’re offering. During and post-trip… we’re working on that!
7. Building supporting business applications loses its luster.
Innovators are focused on the customer-facing applications in the travel value chain, with much less emphasis on the infrastructure services that support content development, content distribution, financial accounting and settlement, and even provisioning of Internet access.
Summarizing, I think we are going to miss a nice congress, where a lot of people would have been agreeing with what we’re doing…
User generated content, letting your users dictate the content of your website, is currently one of the main buzzwords in the online travel industry. It’s not only a phype; it’s a really successful phenomenon: the amount of travelers sharing their travel tips is booming online. Tripadvisor now has 15 million reviews, up from 5 million in 2007. Also, many other competitors to Tripadvisor, like www.Gusto.com, www.igougo.com, www.tripmates.com, and www.tripconnect.com have appeared. According to Jupiter research, 40% of American travelers use content from other consumers in their travel decisions.
But now that the hype is getting beyond the hallelujah-phase, more and more criticism on user generated travel information is starting to appear.
Of course there’s criticism from authors of guidebooks that use professional authors. They see user generated travel information as a threat. Nevertheless, Arthur Frommer, from Frommer’s guidebooks, makes a lot of good points in this column from 2007.
But also Web 2.0 enthusiasts are increasingly criticizing user generated travel information. Darren Cronian names “incorrectness of information” as one main issues on a posting in his influential travel industry blog, Travel-Rants.com.
Most of the criticism comes down to one thing: you don’t know if you can rely on the information. This is also what Spotted by Locals believes is the main drawback of user generated travel reviews. It is often difficult or plain impossible to see who is behind the “local” travel tips. You usually don’t see somebody’s profile or picture. Is it really a bona fide local or actually a traveler who has only visited the spot once? How do you know the owner of the restaurant didn’t write that positive comment?
Robin Noelle’s comment in the above mentioned discussion on Darren Cronian’s posting hits the nail on the head: “I don’t think you can get good user-based reviews if the users aren’t familiar with what the regional standards are. I don’t know that I’ve ever stayed in a hotel in Mexico where the mattress wasn’t as hard as a rock. Now that I live here, I know that it’s not just the mattresses but the sofas and chairs too.“
Now that’s of course exactly the message we’re trying to preach: real local content, by real locals, is so much more trustworthy!
Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) has announced that they will put half a million dollars into a campaign called “Go Travel like a local”.
They also launched a website, http://gotravellikealocal.com/
With this campaign they want to promote the idea that “locals” provide tourists a unique visitor experience. “The compelling message — the message that reaches out and grabs the consumer — is encouraging consumers to see the real destination”
Hallelujah! And thank you DMAI for putting a lot of money into promoting our concept!
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