Travel businesses could flourish even in today’s down economy if they sell the right experiences. At the national Tourism Futures conference in Australia, trend spotter Daniel Levine told attendees that tourism businesses need to tap travelers’ growing desire for social responsibility and self-improvement. He sees a “seismic shift” in travelers’ attitudes.

The focus now is on relationships, health, spirituality, self-improvement, the environment and social responsibility with “experience first, destination second.” This is evidenced by the strong growth of the voluntourism sector despite the downturn.

Levine believes that tourism companies need to understand how important eco-tourism was going to become because “environmental issues, green issues, are the number one major trend for the rest of our careers. I think a really good example of that is that a lot of experts were saying when the whole economic crisis hit, that green issues would be pushed off to the side and as we all know, that’s not the case at all.” He believes that when budget is tight, people choose what is really important to them.

“Today’s society had high expectations and were willing to spend up on things that spoke to them. Customers are seeing this high demand being answered in every part of their lives. They’re seeing car companies answer that demand, they’re seeing washing powder answer that demand, and they’re looking for those same trends to be answered in the travel industry” according to Levine.

[via Brisbane Times ]

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