The travel industry is not what it once was. Twenty years ago, the typical household holiday involved going to a beach somewhere with the family for a week or two out of the year. This has evolved in the past few decades, and especially with the rise of the millennials, vacationing to have an adventure has grown in popularity. People are no longer traveling just to relax, they are traveling to have an adventure.
With this evolution and the integration of the internet, niche travel markets have erupted out of the woodwork. Some are still fairly mainstream, such as learning to surf or snorkel. But less thought-of industries have begun to populate the travel market, and with more specialisation comes more opportunity for modern travelers. A big question for the advertising industry is, how do we take advantage of these new niches? Video advertising for tourism is a big opportunity to advocate these genres.
Here are some niche tourism markets popular in 2017, and some video examples to go along.
Food Tourism
Culinary tourism, or food tourism, is the exploration of food as the purpose of tourism. It also doesn’t (by any means! exclude drink). Research from the 2016 Food Travel Monitor shows that 93% of travelers can be considered a ‘food traveler’. This means that in the past 12 months, these people have participated in a food or beverage experience other than dining out. It could include a food tour, wine tasting, or chocolatier/bakery visits.
Food tourism is one way of immersing yourself in another culture. By seeking out authentic cuisine and foods that are new to you, you are introducing yourself to the heritage of the region.
Take a look at this video below, which features Chef Libero from Tuscany. He explains how he immerses his guests in the culinary culture of the area to give them the best experience possible.
Female Solo Travel
A continually growing trend in niche travel is the female solo traveller. These trips are popular for single women, widowers, and divorcees, although the exponential growth indicates these are not the only people participating. A statistic from Forbes says 80% of all travel decisions are made by women, regardless of who they travel with or who pays for the trip.
Below is an excellent commercial advocating female solo travel. It uses humour and ‘girl power’ to promote Booking.com, and is only one in a series of amusing advertisements.
Libertine Travel
Libertine travel can include anything that a more conservative person would consider taboo. Nudists, swinger couples, and adult adventure seekers are a few examples. Travel companies specializing in this type of vacation are springing up around the globe, particularly in France. As of 2014, the libertine travel industry was worth 1.2 billion euros in Europe. Escapades include anywhere from libertine villages, cruises, foam parties, skinny dipping, and more.
Staycations
Staycations were originally popular amongst elder people and people with children, but there is a large push (especially in the UK) of people vacationing at home. Local tourism, if you will.
Activity on debit cards overseas was 13% lower this year than last year, indicating more Britains are staying home. Further statistics show that there was a 10% growth in staycations from 2015 to 2016, and a further 23.8% increase from 2016 to 2017.
Here’s an oldie-but-a-goodie from 2012 promoting tourists to spend their holidays at home in the U.K. versus traveling abroad. It features national celebrities and some famous locations from around the country.
Disabled Travel
There are a multitude of travel agencies that specialize in organizing travel for people with developmental and physical disabilities. Holiday ideas include beaches, theme parks, natural parks, museums, and historic sites.
There are 13.3 million disabled people in the United Kingdom alone, and their spending power equates to over £200 billion per year.
Below is an advertisement for the travel company Lonely Planet, which shows some of the hardships of traveling with a wheelchair and what the company does to address these needs.
Traveling with Your Pet
Today’s young adult generation are no longer settling down to have children, they are settling down to adopt dogs. A rising niche in the travel market is catering to people’s cats and dogs. Loew’s Hotels, for example, is a chain of luxury, pet-friendly hotels spread across the U.S. and Canada. Pet-friendly restaurants, bars/pubs, walking routes, local veterinarians, and pet shops all have the potential to take advantage of this growing trend.
Here’s a great tourism advertisement for a state that uses the simple tagline, ‘Dogs Are Always Welcome in Wisconsin’. All the shots of the dogs certainly doesn’t hurt, either.
Niche travel will continue to get more specific as competition grows. And, with each increase in niche travel comes further opportunity for advertisers to create content for the market!