What are the top travel trends for 2023?

What are the top travel trends for 2023?

‍We have welcomed a new year that is coming with many hopes, but also with some uncertainties. If we look back slightly, the experience of recent years tells us that it is impossible to predict the trends that await us around the corner of the new year. We live in an increasingly universal world where each event, far from being isolated, actively affects the rest of the world, like the waves that grow when a stone is thrown into the water. Pandemics, conflicts and inflation have made it difficult to anticipate what trends will accompany us in the immediate future.

However, there is one aspect that nothing has yet been able to eliminate: the desire to travel. This drive that leads us to overcome adversities and take advantage of the first glimmer of light to go out and see the world.

We are going to analyze what trends will accompany us in this newly released 2023 and what tips will be important to take into account to make the most of the change!

‍Travel sophistication
‍How long have you been selling the same destinations and in the same way? The 21st century traveler is increasingly looking for more sophisticated trips, that is, we no longer travel to Italy to see Rome but to take a “family caravan road trip through Tuscany”. It is very important to take this change into account because the role of the agency for this type of itinerary becomes essential. Only those who are ready to pivot and adapt to a more sophisticated type of trip will take advantage of this large market that is being created.

Advice:

- Expand your network of receptives to market new destinations. On this website you can find a wide variety of specialized DMCs in countries such as Azerbaijan, Japan, Finland, Nepal, Uzbekistan, etc.

- Launch themed trips: take advantage of national holidays or important days to promote themed trips. For example, at Christmas for families, propose Lapland with Santa Claus, a spiritual trip to Rome during Holy Week, or discover the Canary Islands Carnival in February.

- Try expanding your niche: have you considered offering specific trips for, for example, families? Or solo travel, one of this year's big trends? Retreats for women? Getaways with an ecological approach?

- Look for agreements with fashion suppliers, such as those who rent caravans (we suggest Buena Ruta or MC Rent) or boats for summer (take a look at Top Sailing Charter Or a Mêlée Travels).

‍Traveling is still a priority, but be sure to provide payment facilities to the customer.
‍While it is true that, according to the latest surveys of Booking.com, 80% of Spaniards are still eager to travel, the reality is that not in any way. The liquidity they had after the pandemic has already started to decline and now travelers are looking for financial facilities, such as being able to pay for a trip in different installments. However, we are aware that sometimes it can become very difficult to keep track of all payments: due dates, amounts, receipts... This can lead to extreme situations such as those that any of our agencies have ever experienced: the customer goes on a trip without paying the last amount.

Advice:

We might recommend that you talk to the bank and get a line of funding, but these negotiations take time and don't always offer the best customer experience, not to mention interest rates. That's why we can think of a better alternative: use the payment schedule tool of Stripe to charge the customer all the amounts automatically.

‍Teleworking and holidays
‍One of the trends brought to us by the pandemic was the boiling of teleworking, and it doesn't seem that this is going to disappear: the working population is moving to the digital nomadic trend that has been consolidating in recent years. So why not combine telecommuting and vacations? We will see how many people plan a somewhat longer vacation with the intention of combining them with teleworking and achieving a more complete immersion in the destination.

Advice:

- Review your agreements with hotels to extend stays. You might get a discount!

- Maybe until now you've sold a lot of vacation hotels and it's time to look for accommodations that are more focused on work and leisure. The pioneers were the hotels Accor, Meliá and Marriot, but many have already joined this trend.

- Package differently, for example: “6 months in Lisbon”; “9 months in Bali, all inclusive”. These packages can include facilities at the destination, such as the transport card, the sim card and everything that is useful for long stays.

‍As individual corporate travel decreases, conventions increase
‍One of the main effects of the pandemic is teleworking and the entire universe of video conferencing. It is no longer necessary to travel to London for a meeting, but companies are starting to bring their partners and employees back together at face-to-face events and face-to-face networking regains positions. Get ahead of this trend and recover your contacts for MICE.

Advice:

The digital revolution has also reached congresses and conventions, so be sure to offer your customers an app or platform where they can centralize all information, documentation and registrations.

‍Digital trips
‍The access offered by the Internet encourages today's traveler to be highly qualified: they know what they want and they know how to access the best options and offers for their trip. But, in addition, it requires personalized and very careful attention both before and during your stay. This trend is unstoppable, and customers no longer only need help making reservations, but they want access to their travel manager to cover their destination needs. For this reason, more and more travel agencies are making an app available to their customers through which they can continue to serve them in a personalized way during their trip.

Advice:

- Automate your answers with Whatsapp business.

- Share the itinerary digitally, avoiding the excessive use of paper.

We recommend that you take a look at everything that MOGU has to offer, as it becomes an ideal tool to take advantage of all the trends mentioned:

- It allows you to create payment schedules and automatically charge the customer at 2%. Cheaper than Stripe and all in a very simple way.

- It includes a MICE module so you can offer an app for all the events you have to organize.

- Customer support app with which you can communicate with travelers both individually and in groups, send assessment surveys and, above all, offer them destination services that they can pay comfortably from their mobile phones.

¡Click here to schedule a demo with MOGU and discover all its features!