Global tourism trends imply small scale trips

To better compete and cope with the stiff competition in the global market, tourism stakeholders were presented with a general impression of the trends in the world’s tourism market.

Former Department of Tourism Secretary and Philippine Small and Medium Business Development Foundation Philippines (PHILSMED) president Mina T. Gabor presented, during the 1st seminar on community-based rural tourism, mega trends in the tourism sector which highlighted several movements in the industry.

However, brushing aside the huge movements in the industry, Gabor said the nature of trips these days will be smaller in scope.

“Travel will be closer to home so we should not overlook what’s in your doorstep. The nature of trips these days will be smaller in scope and more off the beaten path. The challenge for us in the tourism industry is capturing the niche,” Gabor stressed.

Nevertheless, Gabor pointed out that the main tendency would be that “slow cities” and “slow food trends” will expand from Italy to much of Europe and Asia and Oceania which will be a good time for the Philippines to capitalize on the promotion of our authentic culinary delicacies to better promote our tourism industry especially that we Filipinos have always been accustomed to the “laid-back” lifestyle.

Another tendency is for the older and better educated population (baby boomers) from Europe and North America to increasingly seek ecotourism and cultural travel products and with the Philippines starting to tap into this segment positive growth is eyed ahead.

Another main tendency is for airlines, travel agents and tour operators to partner with financial institutions to offer travel loans. She said that with this movement, domestic as well as international travels are deemed to grow as more Filipino travelers will be given the opportunity to afford tours and other tourism-based products.

In terms of product and service trends, Gabor made mention movements emphasized by Michael Nowiis, consultant and director for the Tourism Control Intelligence that hotel meeting and dining areas will be designed less formally in attempt to attract casual business travelers and hotel and restaurant facilities will be designed for the aging traveling population which are deemed to grow in numbers.

This growth of the aging population is also foreseen to make way for the rise of healthcare facilities as the infatuation with healthful living will bring wave of European spas and “health-tels’ to North America and to Asia as well.

Luxury resorts will be more welcoming to children with expanded array of activities tailored for their needs is also foreseen, said Gabor.

In terms of investment challenges and finances, airlines are deemed to continue racking up significant losses as they struggle to deal with high fuel costs, new security requirements and the onslaught of “no-frills” carriers and brutal competition from open skies agreements.

Gabor also emphasized that the hectic 10-city or 10-day packaged tours will already be a thing of the past as more travelers will prefer to stay in one particular destination for a longer time to unwind and experience everything it has to offer.