It’s a new year and 2018 welcomes in a new set of trends in women’s travel as women become empowered like never before. In a new cultural landscape where women are redefining relationships with those around them, women seek deeper and more meaningful travel experiences, trips which leave them with more than just mementos and photographs.
The Virtuoso Luxe Report helps put this in perspective, pointing to 5 new trends in travel this year. Three of these that resonate with what we’re hearing from women based on our own research include:
Immersive Exploratory Experiences
The act of discovery enlivens our senses like nothing else. The element of surprise. The exercise of learning. The sense of accomplishment when you leave a place knowing so much more about it and the people and cultures that inhabit it than when you arrived. So how do you best travel, not as a tourist but as an explorer? Women tell us they want deeper experiences on their trips. Opportunities to connect with locals and with each other. Opportunities to bond with both people and places. Enriching experiences which are highly memorable. Tips from a chef not just reading a menu. Biking not busing. One-to-one not one-to-many.
Applying a bindi in India on our 2017 Adventure
Opportunities for Challenge
We’ve noticed that women are taking more risks. They are getting more education. Starting more companies and non-profit organizations. Winning more races – from marathons to political ones. They are standing up for themselves and stepping even further out of their comfort zones. They are pushing themselves and the status quo. These women come from all walks of life and backgrounds but they love a challenge. In travel, this translates into everything from learning a new sport to complete a bucket-list adventure to designing a trip to summit their favorite mountain and inviting all their friends.
Multi-Generational Travel That Connects Us
Travel has become a sacrosanct, protected space for reconnecting. Women are natural connectors. With each other. Within their families. At work and at home. And as technology gradually takes over our lives, women seek more deliberate ways to reconnect with those they care about. Time has become so precious. Communication so dumbed down by devices and the sheer volume of information overload. Through travel, women can reconnect with each other and create a special place where mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, nieces and cousins can laugh together, learn together, share their experiences and celebrate their relationships.
3 generations in Iceland! Grandmother, mother, and daughter on our 2017 Iceland Adventure
What trends are you noticing on the travel front? Tell us on Facebook!
