Trends: Tourism with intent
Story Highlights:
5 Pregnancy Vacations provide an atmosphere conducive to conception
Debauchery tourism encourages people to "work hard and play hard"
Cruise ships and casinos said to benefit from the new trend
Niche Tourism Trends
10 LONDON, England (CNN) -- It's not enough to take a vacation any more -- it has to be a
vacation with intent, according to the latest trend forecasts from the travel industry. Tour
companies are now catering to stressed-out couples who want to make babies while on
holiday. They are called ‘Pregnancy Vacations’ and they are designed to create a relaxing,
romantic environment. Packages include such old chestnuts as romantic dinners, massage
15 sessions and aphrodisiacs such as oysters. Porn, it seems, is not included.
Derek Jones, sales director of Thomson Holiday's told the UK's Daily Mail last week that
there is a market for Pregnancy Vacations. "Very often existing parents might want to try for
another baby, but having kids already makes it impossible to get precious time alone," he said.
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If you want to party, not increase the size of your family, on your holidays -- don't worry,
there are packages that cater for you. Another trend is called ‘debauchery tourism’ - or
debaucherism – a report released last week identified it as a major industry trend.
Inspired by paparazzi pictures of celebrities popping up in various global hotspots appearing
25 messy and intoxicated, the masses have taken their cues.
Forget a quiet week on the beach or healthy eco-tourism, debauchery tourism is about
partying hard and indulging in your vice of choice, whether it is drugs, alcohol, sex or
gambling - but without the hassle of going to work the next day. According to an article in
30 The Guardian, "Hard drinking, gambling and strip clubs are all on the bill as 25 to 34-year-
olds embrace the adult version of the American 'spring break' (where college students take to
the beaches to party for a week) with a 'work hard, play harder' ethic."
Hot-spots for debauchery tourism include Las Vegas, Buenos Aires and Cape Town. The
35 Market intelligence firm Euromonitor International, which produced the report, said the trend
would not be confined to younger travellers. "Even as travellers age, they will continue to
embrace travel as an opportunity to revisit their hedonistic youth and to spend lavishly,
enjoying their leisure time to the full," global travel and tourism research manager Clement
Wong said.
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Cruise ships with all-night bars, resorts that cater for stag and hen nights and a swimming
pool area where tourists can sleep off the hangovers the next day will be winners in this type
of tourism, according to the trend forecasters. But what goes up must come down. With the
rise in debauchery tourism, day spas for detoxes will surely follow.
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Niche tourism trends
Niche tourism is not for the masses, but tries to satisfy special desires. Physical activity or
sports-oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism such as mountaineering, hiking,
trekking and backpacker tourism; sport travel to do skiing, golf and scuba diving or see a
50 sports event (e.g., FIFA World Cup); and extreme tourism for people interested in risky
activities.
There is learning-oriented niche tourism, which includes bookstore tourism or educational
tourism for classes; ancestry tourism to visit birth places; hobby tourism (such as garden tours
55 …). The cultural sub-type of learning-oriented niche tourism focuses on cultural and arts
activities, including music tourism, workshops in painting or sculpturing. Another trend is
called pop-culture tourism: tourism by those that visit a particular location after reading about
it or seeing it used as a location in a film (e.g., the Lord of the Rings film sets in New
Zealand)
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There is ecotourism (e.g. sustainable tourism in rainforests or national parks); and rural
tourism such as agritourism. Lifestyle-oriented niche tourism types include gay tourism,
gourmet tourism, wine tourism, health tourism and medical tourism. We even have a trend
called ‘shopping tourism’ promoting events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival.