Numbness and alienation are palpable as 2023 nears its end and 2024 brightly emerges before of us. This is due in large part to the ongoing crisis, which includes rising living expenses and worries about climate change. To give themselves a much-needed break, people all throughout the world have emotionally disconnected from the news agenda and domestic happenings.
Travel has historically been a way to escape life, but according to research released by Booking.com, travel will become a way of life in 2024. 80% of Hong Kong tourists say that they feel more alive than ever when they are on vacation, and 74% wish they could live more like their vacation self every day. This is because 78% of people believe that while they are on vacation, they are their best selves. Additionally, as AI is predicted to revolutionize travel in 2024, more and more tourists are relying on technology to handle the tedious tasks, freeing them up to explore their creativity, follow their intuition, and have more life-altering encounters.
Booking.com commissioned research among over 27,000 travelers across 33 countries and territories to investigate how travel will enable people to step out of autopilot and into living their best lives. Booking.com combined this research with its insights as a top digital travel platform to reveal seven predictions for travel in 2024.
Ego Enthusiasts (Alter)
By constructing their own spectacular alter personas while on vacation, Hong Kong travelers will feel more alive in 2024—more than 63% of them will make up stories about their own lives to strangers they encounter while traveling. With over three out of five (71%) praising the anonymity of travel and the opportunity to reinvent oneself, these aficionados of alter egos go to considerable efforts to reimagine their best selves and love the rush of embodying a 2.0 version of themselves.
According to 78% of respondents, who believe they are the best versions of themselves when on vacation because they can let go of inhibitions and embrace new aspects of their personalities, people travel with a different persona in order to feel more alive. In fact, 54% of respondents would even pay to rent a nicer car than they do at home in order to live their best lives with confidence. Furthermore, 66% of travelers from Hong Kong report experiencing “main character energy” while traveling, which gives these performers the confidence to be the stars of their own lives.
Avatars and aliases are common in VR and AR as well as in real life. In the metaverse, those digital alter egos driven by a wanderlust can go anywhere and do anything they choose. By 2024, the individuals who created them will bring their virtual dreams to life in actual locations.
Australia’s Fitzroy Island, close to Cairns, has a nude beach.
- Those who take cool vacations
Heat has finally reached its peak, with sweltering temperatures setting new records and generating heat waves all around the world. Travelers seeking cooler climates to rejuvenate themselves are increasing in number as a result of the oppressive heat. Over half (69%) of Hong Kong residents think they will spend their holiday to cool off abroad when local temperatures rise, joining the majority of APAC travelers (60%) who say climate change will have an impact on how they plan their vacation in 2024.
This effect capitalizes on the anticipated increase in water-centric travel, which helps individuals decompress and forget about their troubles. Nearly three-quarters (69%) concur that being near water instantly helps them feel more at ease, and thirty percent are interested in taking vacations that focus on the water by 2024. With people diving headfirst into aquatic escapes, mindful water immersion—where the ice-therapy movement and the wild-swimming obsession collide—will swiftly become the next popular kind of meditation (thanks, Wim Hof). With water no longer serving as the backdrop but as the focal point of this new wave of feel-alive wellness travel, floating yoga, water sound baths, and snow meditation will all see a spike in popularity. Ice treatment retreats, underwater hotels, and mermania will also see a boom in demand.
- Seekers of Surrender
Just present yourself in 2024. More than half (65%) of Hong Kong residents are eager to plan a surprise trip in which every detail, including the destination, is unknown until arrival. Travelers are becoming more and more willing to embrace the element of surprise, explore the unknown, and explore unexplored territory while on vacation. The naturally adventurous traveler of 2024 wants to break away from the homogenized vacation, with 63% wanting to stray off the beaten path and 47% choosing to travel with strangers. They are hostile to the “sameness” of everyday life and deliberately avoiding cookie-cutter encounters.
These surrender seekers are giving up control in favor of the art of letting go, with carpe diem serving as their life motto. They are moving from meticulous preparation to random meetings and experiences with a toss of the dice. More than two thirds (77%) prefer to travel with loose plans so they can change direction based on what feels good in the moment, while the majority (64%) would prefer to have no plans set in stone ahead to going in 2024 so they can go where the wind takes them.
With tech-enabled flexible services, the travel industry is already reacting quickly, allowing customers to buy now and pay later, modify their arrangements, and cancel at the touch of a button. In 2024, the advent of AI is expected to become widely used. Currently, 59% of people would trust AI to plan a trip for them, and 30% of baby boomers and 20% of the silent generation have finally given up control to AI to help with their travel plans. Booking.com’s AI Trip planner has already launched in select markets.
Portland, Oregon in autumn. In the backdrop is Mount Hood and the Portland Aerial Tram.
- Culinary Diggers
In order to discover new culinary gems, the food archeologists of 2024 will delve deeply into the history of food while on vacation. Approximately 74% of them are now more curious than ever to discover the beginnings of a place’s “must-eat” specialties. Chef excavators are defying modern culinary fads to preserve the authentic artistry of classic recipes; they rely on gastronomic tourism to embrace the distinct history, geography, and produce that combine to create cuisine that is one-of-a-kind that will tantalize the senses.
By giving power to the underrepresented and uncovering the mysteries of cultures that may have been lost or forgotten in other areas of the world, tourists are putting heritage delicacies in the forefront and 90% of Hong Kong residents wish to try indigenous foods by 2024. Anticipate a rise in indigenous experiences that lead visitors on trails that narrate the history of the food they serve, enhancing local economies and providing a sense of pride to communities everywhere.
In 2024, travelers who are foodies will be experienced travelers who shift between digital and physical worlds to elevate each discovery into a multisensory extravaganza. Of them, over half (59%) would desire an immersive virtual or augmented reality (VR/AR) food experience. Imagine lighting that changes the mood, carefully chosen scents, and evocative soundtracks that accentuate the remnants of earlier foodways.
- Restart Travelers
In an increasingly chaotic environment with political unrest around the world, unkempt travelers are taking self-improvement-focused one-track travels to reconnect with their true desires. For instance, the emerging field of sleep tourism welcomes sleep concierges and state-of-the-art technology to cater to the 76% of Hong Kong residents who wish to travel in 2024 primarily for undisturbed sleep.
More than half (58%) of travelers who are accustomed to sleeping alone would schedule a matchmaking vacation in hopes of striking up a new relationship or finding love, while 51% would prioritize a heartbreak vacation in an effort to move on from a past relationship. Conversely, among those who are still in amazing relationships, a quarter (20%) said that strengthening their bond with their spouse will be their top travel objective in 2024. Conversely, parents who are becoming more and more stressed out are, shockingly, finding comfort in fully solitary vacations. Of them, 78% say they will travel alone in 2024, leaving their partners and children behind in order to focus on their own well-being.
Taking the desire to change their “real” lives a step further, more than half of all visitors to Hong Kong (52%) said they would be drawn to the simple way of life of rural and indigenous communities in 2024, where self-sufficiency is a way of life. The goal is to reset their daily routine back home by finding a better balance with nature and the elements, rather than just going back to the basics.
6. A La Carte Affluencers Valkenburg village along Kleine Geul Canel, Southen Netherlands – December 2018
Driven by the crisis in living standards and the widespread, unnoticed wealth trends of 2023, travelers in 2024 will use money-saving strategies to reduce expenses while upgrading their trips with “à la carte” extravagance, experiencing the thrill of living like a king or queen, even if only for a brief period of time. These à la carte “affluencers” are fascinated with see-through spending and, with the aid of their travel companion in crime, AI, crafting affordable vacation itineraries. While on the outside, they want to appear wealthy, brushing away the reality of having to make sacrifices. In fact, more than half (65%) of travellers will want insights and tips from AI when on vacation to upgrade experiences with suggested ancillaries and deals, all with a flick of their finger.
Furthermore, 60% of Hong Kong visitors intend to choose locations in 2024 where the cost of living is lower than in their homeland, while 56% of travelers who will be looking for luxury-for-less imitation vacations in 2024 will also be drawn to visiting closer to home. In 2024, a significant portion of travelers (60%) are willing to pay for day passes so they can utilize the facilities of a five-star hotel instead of staying there, and a comparable proportion of parents (60%) intend to take their kids out of school to travel during off-peak times in order to save money.
Woman standing at the edge of Waiotapu Geothermal Wonderland’s Champagne Pool and hot spring in Rotorua, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania
- Conscientious Artists
There was a time when eco-travel conjured up images of rustic campsites, and the terms sustainable and elegant were not always synonymous. Make way for the intersection of design and mindfulness to influence travel in 2024, opening up new and inspiring doors for travellers who have a desire to make more conscious and responsible choices, not just for a short getaway, but as a way of life.
The days of comfort and superb design being exclusively linked to luxury and excess are long gone, as an increasing number of hotels and other distinctive lodging options offer creative, yet visually beautiful, solutions to important environmental and social issues. With environmental characteristics at its core, these discriminating travelers will seek out breathtaking architecture. Of them, over half (68%) will search for lodging with wow-factor sustainability innovation. While 66% of respondents want to see outdoor living brought indoors with greenery and plants in holiday rentals, 71% of respondents want to see sustainability in action.
By 2024, travelers will have exclusive access to the locations they are working to protect in the most responsible and conscientious manner possible thanks to sustainable itineraries, which will reward them for their contributions to conservation efforts. Many people are interested in eco-friendly travel apps that allow them to earn benefits (47%) such as meeting residents in less-traveled areas (46%) or going to far-off places that are otherwise inaccessible to visitors (37%). The mindful artists serve as a reminder that you may bring back not just the vacation vibes but also the audacious goal of feeling even more a part of your local community and surroundings while you’re at home.
Arjan Dijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com comments:”Our 2024 travel predictions reflect the idea that travel is not a means to escape life, but instead a catalyst to live our best lives. Traveling enables us to grow into the best versions of ourselves through everything from exhilarating experiences in new places to experiencing the pulse of a foreign culture, and everything in between. Our goal at Booking.com is to make travel easier for everyone. We also think that travel has the ability to inspire, transform, and enrich lives, and we are dedicated to creating incredible experiences that will speak to the souls of all travelers in 2024 and beyond.
Source- Travel daily