Hello everyone! I’m seeking advice on transitioning into a more stable role in digital marketing and content creation within the travel industry. Could you share your experiences or tips on finding job opportunities, especially with small travel companies?
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I have a solid background in digital marketing and content creation, most recently working for a hostel and tour company with operations across Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and the Philippines. This role involved managing a wide range of promotional and content creation tasks aimed at boosting online presence and customer engagement.
Previously, I collaborated with tour agencies in Austria, contributing to projects in Austria, Serbia, and Hungary. This volunteer work was intended to enhance my portfolio. Currently, I'm freelancing as a social media content coordinator, digital marketer, and content creator for a musician, aiming to build more diverse experiences.
Despite my efforts in leveraging platforms like Facebook...
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Travel trend predictions for 2024 are NOW OPEN... share your ideas on the link below:
We're polling the Travel Massive community for your predictions for travel in 2023.
🏆 The top 3 most upvoted answers will get a postcard from Tasmania! 😀
👉 Here's a few examples of predictions you could answer: What new styles of travel will be popular? What emerging technologies will make travel better? How will travel story telling change? How will destinations change?
✅ RULES: Be creative, positive, and hopeful — we're shaping the future!
For reference, here's last year's predictions (for 2022):
It's worth a read, as there's some GREAT predictions which happened (e.g. slow travel), and some didn't happen, such as my prediction about Apple glasses 😢
Mass Personalization across the travel journey from search, to planning, through in airport/airplane experience, all the way through the trip and back home. Safe Travels!
I think travel will continue to be on the upswing, but that people will seek more local/regional, traditional, cultural and sustainable destinations and tours. Travelers are learning to appreciate how much there is to see in their own region and even their own hometowns!
2023 will be a breakthrough year for AI in tourism. The most significant use case won't be what many talk about, which is generative AI (i.e. writing text / creating images), but will actually be AI enabled autonomous vehicles including early robotaxis.
The impact of these vehicles is that the tourism industry will transition from being focussed around the head (e.g. local highlights and major attractions) to the long tail, in the same way that Youtube is all about people's passions, vs Netflix which is all high budget (ish!) mainstream productions. The resulting impact changes discovery (search) and the role of OTAs in the buying process. More emphasis will shift to creators rather than influencers (as creators tend to design experiences around passions, while influencers, due to chasing larger audiences, tend to have to address the more mainstream experiences).
To summarise - 2023 big for AI, medium good for creators (in aggregate), and steady as you obsolesce for many others.
Here for example is Alphabet (Google)'s new vehicle
Quote from the video... "It's a lifestyle capsule, and not a car anymore" 😃
Yeah Ian. They are all using the same "experiences" terminology as the "Tours & activities" sector does. But folk from that sector are asleep at the wheel, they should be thinking about what happens where there isn't a wheel
I came here to talk about AI as well. I also think AI will be the future of tourism, but for personalising experiences.
Focus on wellbeing of self,connecting more with nature. Getting to know people of the countries being visited for their traditions and cultures.
These are trends that have roots pre-COVID and have accelerated since. And I agree that they will continue to grow in 2023. “Cold spots” when people get away from wifi, and a greater emphasis on transformation through nature & travel.
* Greener, fair & outdoorsy.
Simple life, rural experiences, new national parks.
* In Europe: Renaissance of train travels (partly subsidised by governments).
* Workcations!
* Nearby adventures on the one hand, "trips of a lifetime" on the other.
Probably a higher demand for glamping.
And this is in line with what Jessica, Charmaine, and Kirsi have already said about local outdoor travel. I expect it to occur especially near the big cities (4-5 hour drive).
With Queensland declaring 2023 the Year of Accessible Tourism and all the work being done by amazing advocates in this space to help the sector understand and cater to this under – served, fast-growing and valuable market, I think the momentum will continue to build as more operators come on board which means more people with disability and access needs will be able to enjoy travelling.
Here's my predictions for 2023.
Train travel (as Kirsi mentioned) will continue to grow in Europe. However, connected and seamless train journeys still have a way to go and there will be lots of opportunities in this space as demand grows. The aviation industry largely solved global ticketing (despite its flaws) and almost everyone knows how to catch a flight from A to B and navigate a foreign airport. However, train travel has mostly been a domestic service so every country has their own quirks from ticketing to how to display information in the passenger terminals — meaning train travelers need to know "how it works" in every country. There's lot of things to improve in train travel for the consumer.
Africa will gain status in travel tech and innovation. From Morocco to South Africa, this continent of 54 countries has always been about the long journey and is the OG of slow travel. Nigeria is leading the way in digitising African businesses and payments, from Flutterwave (a $3B fintech who facilitate cross-border transactions for companies including Uber and Booking.com) to tix.africa (online ticketing tools). Africa’s tech ecosystem netted nearly $5B in funding in 2021 and local innovation is bringing foreign investors — this is a space to watch.
More M&A will occur, sadly due to economic upheaval of the past two years that has seen small businesses and startups look for exits. Online ad-spend will continue to consolidate (can you watch YouTube without seeing an ad for Airbnb?) as evidence that there's less choice for consumers. I don't like this trend, but it's worth noting across the travel industry from aviation, hotels, tours and online.
Great predictions, Ian. Have to comment about the rail travel point. South Africa has over 30,000km (18,600 miles) of railroad track, which used to be the most advanced railway system in Africa, but it has been stripped by criminals looking to make money from scrap metal. The Blue Train started its post-covid service on September 5th, 2022 but at R19,990 ($1,170) per person (special launch fare for a De Luxe Suite) - one-way Johannesburg / Cape Town - it's beyond most domestic tourists affordability.
A great way to describe the continent ... the OG of slow travel ... any expansion/improvement of train networks would be a great improvement not only for tourism, but for commerce and connectivity for all of these countries.
Travel demand in Japan still lags (inbound and out are only 6% and 12% v 2019 levels), so expectations for 2023 are muted. Local regions getting active and offering new tourism activities and stay options(eg. Shizuoka area). Expect to see more robotic usage(eg. Avatarin, Henna hotel) to compensate for lack of staffing.
Tourism will be part of our daily lives. Remote work empowers working from far away while getting to know new places and supporting tourism.
2023 travel may be impacted by recession fears, meaning less ambitious trips;
* traveling closing to home
* self driving
* walking /hiking/ cycling
* nature/ outdoors/ national parks
For Summer travel I think we’ll see a backlash from ‘22, leading folks to look toward lesser known destinations, rural, and leisure.
The traveler who last year went to Rome/ Amalfi coast, this year wants Portugal Duro valley or an Alaskan cruise
Lifestyle travel - we’ll see learning + travel combo …. Learn to surf, learn a language, learn to cook, learn astrology, etc while spending a week somewhere gorgeous!
I agree with the comment made by @AlexBainbridge. While AI will make an impact on travel in 2023 in surprising ways, I predict that Metaverse development will make a far bigger impact over the course of this decade.
Consider why Facebook changed its name to Meta. Instead of traveling to experience a destination, the Metaverse aims to bring the destination to your home - in full sensory experiencial splendour!
While sight, sound, and perhaps even touch may be possible in the Metaverse, I still hold that AI cannot simulate smell and taste to compete with being physically present.
This scenario reminds me of a futuristic animated movie (I Robot, I think it was) in which the spaceship characters (big heads on small fat bodies) lie on mobile recliners and experience reality through the lens of AR goggles.
If AI and the Metaverse is where travel & tourism is headed, I'd prefer to reverse course and opt for the HereAndNowverse!
2023 will be the year when AI will take its baby steps to produce travel content and will be the beginning of the test for travel writers who will have to rise above the usual to stay in the race and only the most creative storytellers will survive the AI onslaught in the future.
We will continue to see an increase in longer-term travel and lengthier trips.
The increase in workers who are able to be remote post-pandemic has opened the doors allowing people to take more work-ations. There has been a 131% increase in digital nomads since 2019, flocking to Mexico, Colombia, Bali, etc. Within this group of digital nomad travelers, I predict an increase in "slow-madding", or travelers wanting to spend 3+ months in a particular location to get to know it on a deeper level.
For travelers that can't truly pick up their lives to travel full-time, I predict an increase in longer vacations where people pack their laptops and work a few days to minimize their PTO. For companies calling their workers back to the office, some, like Google, allow their employees to work some days at their other headquarters which could increase long tourism to cities that host major company offices. There will be demand for cities that can offer fiber internet and coworking spaces.
Remote work & digital nomads - new types of travelers. This will continue to be a rising segment and the whole tourism & hospitality industry will adapt to this phenomenon. How destinations and companies are communicating and promote their offer will change completely because of the new types of travelers and their needs
Peripheral/rural tourism - the segment of remote workers and digital nomads will repopulate villages and rural areas where locals are moving out. There will be more and more locations like Bansko, Bulgaria.
Travelers giving back - more and more travelers will be mindful of the impacts they're making in the visiting destinations. We will see more cooperation between travelers and locals where the former will be more considerate about their purchasing decisions and have a desire to help the local communities (by donating, volunteering, offering their skills, etc.).
Writing this from my "lifestyle capsule" in goblin mode.
I agree about the accelerated introduction of AI in the travel sector and the subsequent growth in personalisation, but I'm wary about its application. OTAs seem already to have returned to the early days when the user experience was fixated on booking, so the user's path starts with a Date-of-Travel form, not a freewheeling browse option. I fear AI will lock users into the same system, saying "Never mind what you think you want, this is what I think you want". And on the CR side, the more machine interactions we have as consumers, the more the experience tastes like cardboard, not pasta.
Two minor predictions...
1) From a national perspective (UK), I think outbound tour operators can expect a fall in trip frequency, and with it the more balanced yearly revenue stream. The demand for consumer travel has always been incredibly in-elastic (people will sell their children before giving up their hols!), but the cost of living crisis & failing economy means they won't be taking multiple trips. Just the one.
2) In contrast to @bertie-alexander-6517042704 's 'WIFI cold spots', the London W hotel's new Gaming Suite might be a 'thing' in the MICE market. Hotels offering rooms with high-end gaming rigs to solo business travellers. Counter-intuitive to the travel concept, I know, but everybody underestimates the scale of the games industry.
Let me squeeze in 2023 forecasts with mine. Travelpayouts & WayAway see a definite trend for subscription-based services. Now almost everything in travel is available with a membership plan. For frequent travelers it's a chance to get bargain deals while travel companies could develop a new revenue stream.
And agree @Ian, it's time for Africa!
Travel will continue to get back and even surpass pre-COVID levels. Although it's a heck of a lot more expensive now with airfare, hotels, Airbnb add-ons (watch those cleaning fees!), etc. People do want to see the world, go to festivals, see friends and families, go to new destinations and back to familiar ones. Pro's Tip: Get out a bit in 2023 and be a tourist in your own town from time to time.
2023 predictions:
With talk of global recession looming, high interest rates and continued global QT its tricky to make global predictions IMO. As a few have already suggested, i think the trend of travelling more short hall/closer to home will continue and grow, especially with the ESG narrative continuing to be front and centre. Those travelling Long haul will become even "longer hall" and I expect time away will increase while number of holidays will reduce.
Travel tech- I While i do agree that AI will be a game changer for copy and content creation, photos and video in the space, I cant see how it affects wider travel experiences in the short term. To pick Ians 2022 prediction i do think AR will start to make an appearance though, enhancing and possibly gamifying day tours and experiences and more.
Prediction - A large travel company, either airline or operator launches an NFT and converts rewards points and program onto a blockchain.
An big increase in community and influencer led travel experiences. While it somewhat pains me to say this, influencers and community leaders who amass huge online followers will create their own travel experiences as they explore ways to monetise their communities, using travel as one avenue.
lastly, a selfishly optimistic one... slow, immersive, travel including self drive (and tuk-tuk adventures obviously ;) will become more prevalent as people search for more local and cultural experiences away from pre-booked fixed itineraries.
2023.. onwards and upwards.
2023 will be a year of:
- Detox Family Focused Trips: Travelers will travel slow to nature destinations where they can disconnect from electronics and slow down while connecting to nature and family members. Smartphones and tv won't be allowed, neither for parents or their kids. A creative environment full of outdoor experiences will be in place to help family members to better connect to each other;
- AI Trips: Not everyone will be able to travel to remote places, but these experiences will be available on immersive AI trips;
- Responsible Travelers: Travelers will have more access to information on how to leave positive impacts on the road and will plan their trips and hire companies accordingly. They will also be auditors and denounce companies and attractions that harm nature and communities;
- Cultural/Ancestry trips: Immersive trips to traditional communities connected to nature an with a simplistic lifestyle and loads of knowledge;
- Self-awareness trips: with the non-stop rise of mental illnesses, people will look for expeditions where they can openly talk about it and find a community to support their journey for a more well-balanced lifestyle.
Redefinition of experience -- less transactional and prepackaged travel purchases with a heavy move towards personalized end-to-end experience design. Travelers will want their own personal story inspired by content creators and planned by experts or AI. New forms of sharing immersive and actionable content will arise as a result.
I looked at my predictions for last year relating to business travel and I think those trends are still going and will take multiple years to play out: More meaningful corporate travel (better planning, longer trips), and the shape of travel changed due to remote working.
(And as I said before - my personal views only)
Probably the thing I didn't focus on enough is sustainability. I think in 2023 we're going to see most corporate travel buyers following the example of some of the big consultancies - accounting for all CO2 "spend" from every supplier for every product and service - including travel. Also this accounting goes down through the supply chain - so not just your suppliers but their suppliers. I think every kind of business will need to do this ultimately - much sooner if they have customers in finance or consulting.
As to how this will help - not as clear - the options to offset are in short supply or poor quality. Measuring carefully before making changes may be a natural instinct but I'm not sure it reflects the urgency of the problem.
I'll take a stab at a few predictions.
1. A return to hotels over private accommodation rentals. I'm noticing increasingly more people disgruntled with onerous cleaning requirements and higher costs. On top of that, high rental costs will force governments to take action and a natural target is Airbnb. That will only further drive up the costs of private accommodation, leading to hotels becoming more cost competitive.
2. Cycling tours to grow in popularity. E-bikes have made it more accessible, cycling infrastructure is improving in many places and it's a good way to keep travel costs down while taking in more of the environment. An appealing new option for people on tight budgets, regardless of their fitness level.
3. Similarly, I expect to see more city tours using e-scooters to get around.
AI obviously is a big thing too, but enough others have mentioned that :)
At the Good Tourism Institute, we have identified 6 key trends for 2023 we believe will help tour operators become more sustainable and successful in the future and we believe are here to stay long-term.
[We’re hosting a ‘Good tourism trends 2023 workshop’ in January where you learn how to respond and develop an action plan for 2023].
Trend 1: Good tourism
Travellers will be looking for experiences that benefit the destination they’re travelling to.
> It was always a movement but travel behaviour has shown it’s becoming more important.
Trend 2: Excellent customer experience
Travellers expect a personal and efficient customer service at all times
> From the first up to the last contact moment, businesses and employees need to be on its best behaviour.
Trend 3: Outdoor nature experiences:
Travellers are looking to experience and explore the outdoors more often.
> The pandemic has made a lot of people realise how much they love the outdoors and how much they appreciate it.
Trend 4: Travelling off-season
Travellers are looking to travel without too many people around and will opt for low- season instead
> Travellers are looking to avoid crowds and overtourism and go for a different experience instead.
Trend 5: Remote working
Travellers have realised they can make the world their office and work remotely.
> The number of remote workers is growing and opening up a new market for long stays without 24/7 entertainment
Trend 6: Spontaneous travel
Travellers want to turn their ideas into travel plans quickly, easily, and last-minute
> People got used to not making plans at all or making them very last-minute during the pandemic and this will continue.
www.goodtourisminstitute.com
The appetite for international travel has returned. I predict a preference for visiting less-crowded destinations due to COVID-19 concerns. Also, travelers are opting for small-group adventure travel due to a growing desire to have a unique experience.
-More people will choose to travel domestically within their own country as international travel may still be restricted due to the ongoing pandemic.
-Eco-tourism and sustainable travel will continue to trend as more people become conscious of the environmental impact of their travels.
-Virtual and augmented reality technology will become more widely available and used in the travel industry, allowing people to experience destinations in new and immersive ways.
-The use of personal protective equipment such as face masks and gloves will continue to be prevalent in the travel industry as a safety measure against the spread of illness.
-There will be a shift towards more "bleisure" trips, combining business and leisure travel, as remote work becomes more common and accepted.
or...
another war + pandemic + recession will destroy the industry. 🤷♂️
I would like to make it back to Europe. Preferably Paris & Italy. I would also love to visit Jamaica, West Indies for the Christmas season!
International travel will pick up in a big way, but there is a shortage of talent. Most agencies are looking for experienced Travel Agents.
👉 Just bumping this discussion with a link to our What's Hot In Travel 2023 Report
www.travelmassive.com/pages/2023-travel-trends-report-whats-hot-in-travel
I think that people ar more focused on brining something to the countries they visit, like supporting locals, be more mindful to the locals and more interested in their life. Also slow travel is a trend. Travelling by train, exploring new paths and being present instead of having a program with 20 sights a day.