Travel trends that will create a buzz in 2019.

Travel Trends 2019

While trends from 2018 will continue to grow in 2019, Experiential Travel will be the frontrunner in the Indian Travel Game! Indian travelers will persist to explore more off-beat places – aiming to amplify their level of enthusiasm of outdoor activities with the comfort of homestays.

Below are a few travel trends that, we believe, will create a buzz in 2019.

Wow before the vows

The Indian woman traveler is today a traveler in her own right. Taking a girls-only trip to an exquisite destination with specially curated itineraries that offer unique experiences, a ‘week-long party with best friends’ is a trend that will witness soaring interest in 2019. From hosting bachelorette parties to engaging experiences, many destinations such as Rome, USA, Australia, Iceland, Amsterdam, Bali, Thailand, now are looking at becoming more women friendly with added security measures.

Interest based or Hobby-led Travel

A combination of travel and adventure will be a trend to live by in 2019. Over the years, more and more travelers are coming out of their comfort zones and travelling to newer destinations to experience their hobbies or unexplored interests. For example, traveling to Banzai Pipeline (Hawaii), one of the best beaches to surf in the world or, Valle d’Aosta in Italy for world-class snowboarding and skiing experience, or a wine tour in France etc.

Immersive Travel – ‘Do as the Romans do’

Immersive travel is currently at its peak. Indians travelers want to live the local culture of the destination they are traveling to. From local interactions and authentic culinary trail to a deep-dive in the history of the destination or in-depth exploration of a destination – the discerning Indian traveler now yearns to live the life of a local. The experiences include learning how to weave silk in China or cook authentic spaghetti in Italy, etc.

Micro Travel – Short-term stays, Long-term memories

If there is anything an urban traveler looks forward to more than a weekend, it is a long weekend. As done exceptionally well over the years, Indian travelers have leveraged long weekends as apt opportunities to unwind and recharge themselves from the busy city life – spurring the all-time-favorite trend of ‘Micro Travel’. It has also given rise to ‘stay-cation’ - where they travel to luxurious hotels or resorts (within the city, at times) just to stay in and relax, take a dip in the pool and rejuvenate at the spa to amplify the leisure!

The live experience is the real experience!

If there are two things Indians love more than anything, they have to be sports and music. One simply does not spend money to watch a sports or music event – the experience of watching your favorite team or band in action is priceless! With the sporting events such as Cricket World Cup 2019 coming up, we have already started to receive increased interest to England by Indian travelers. Likewise, Tomorrowland and Coachella are extremely popular with the Indian music aficionados and they would not miss a chance to catch them live. Other international events are catching on too – for example, Boryeong Mud Festival in Korea, Oktoberfest in Germany, La Tomatina in Spain, etc.

Mono destination is the name of the game!

Mono-destination itineraries are for India’s new age travelers who are eager to explore different aspects of a single destination on their journey to discover fresh, new and unique destinations. From see-as-much-as-you-can trips, Indians are moving to leisurely experiential mono destination discovery vacays. Countries like South Korea, Vietnam, Croatia, Slovenia, Iceland, Israel, and Jordan have really found their place on the new age traveler’s list.

Travel for a cause

With growing awareness and a need to give back to the community and environment, there are citizens across the world that are waking up to “Voluntourism”. We believe that 2019 will see growing commitment and support from Indian travelers for such tours. They usually travel solo with strong positivity and cherish the enrichment that volunteerism brings. The volunteering activities could range from environment cleaning, helping locals from a calamity/disaster, staying in eco-friendly hotels, etc.