Curious this year, about which new travel trends might dominate your Instagram feed? They’re shaping up to be more than only food food trends or hyper-futuristic travel technology–some could alter the way you travel once and for all.
2018 Travel Trends to See
Here are how they might impact you, and the travel trends which have been turning heads.
South Korea on the Rise
The 2018 Winter Olympics are sure to put South Korea on the map when Pyeongchang takes the world stage in February, also there are loads of different reasons for travelers to start flocking to South Korea. Temples, palaces, cherry blossoms, and road food (see: kimchi) are only the start.
The “K beauty” trend, centered on skincare products originating from Korea, has recently taken social media and the beauty-blogosphere from storm, but ultra-moisturizing skincare remedies and sheet masks are a cornerstone of Northern beauty culture. Intriguing all-natural ingredients such as snail slime, bee venom, salmon eggs, shellfish, mushrooms, and much more may be the travel tendency to inspire many to bypass the skincare aisle and book a luxe spa escape in Seoul instead.
Women’s Travel
Last year saw a significant spike in solo journey styles and a rise in solo-tour availability, and now 2018 is shaping up to be the year of women’s journey. In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement that the focus on women’s experiences has long to travel, with many providers touting their women-only tours and pointing to a recent growth in female-only reservations .
REI small-group tours are female normally. REI Women’s Adventures head anywhere from New Zealand and Machu Picchu for trekking, to Puerto Rico and Baja for sea kayaking. The company has enlarged its female-only tours (which are also led by women) to 19 offerings after seeing three times the attention it had forecasted for the excursions in 2017. Women with a passion for the outdoors are searching to stay together in bucket-list destinations.
Food Foraging
One of the most recent travel trends requires working a bit. Connecting cooking and ecotourism courses, travelers are lining up to forage before going to the kitchen. Hunting down truffles or blossoms in woods and plucking scallops and seaweed from shorelines have become popular throughout the world, from England and Portugal to Australia, Cape Town, and Abu Dhabi.
Millennial Cruises
Think you are not a cruise man? Uniworld Cruises shook up cruise travel styles recently as it announced a new millennial-only river cruising option: U from Uniworld for ages 21 to 45. DJ lounges, restaurants, and beach excursions will dominate adventures on the Rhine, Seine, and Danube–but with a much younger crowd than your typical cruise boat, and with about 120 passengers onboard every sailing. The first of its kind, the idea of millennial-only cruises may have legs and expand once U by Uniworld begins sailing in 2018.
Choice Safari Destinations
Over-tourism concerns went from murmurs to resounding protests in destinations such as Barcelona in 2017, and the push for sustainable travel styles is likely to intensify this season, even outside of Europe.
Wildlife-famous Cape Town is now suffering from a water shortage that may make travelers instead consider unsung safari destinations like Zambia for leopards, Rwanda for endangered mountain gorillas, and Botswana for an abundant sea population.
New Fitness Trips
Active travel is not one of the travel trends that are moving away anytime soon: Fitness excursions are quickly expanding their alternatives. Intensifying adventure-tour offerings have evolved from hiking and hiking to cycling, marathon running, and rafting, kayaking, and sailing choices from the likes of Intrepid Travel, REI Adventures, and G Adventures. It has never been easier to find an active holiday that suits you while also crossing a destination off your bucket list.
Hyperloop Train Travel
“Hyperloop” travel, a near-supersonic-speed train tube community, has seemed like nothing more than a sci-fi book idea since Tesla CEO Elon Musk spanned the idea years ago–before lately. In late 2017 Musk expressed interest in finally executing the idea, and the job appears to get backers’ interest for development in 2018. Details are few, but business experts look excited by the potential, so it is worth keeping an eye out for any hyperloop travel trends that could make train travel glamorous again.
Last-Chance Travel
Climate change is becoming a more significant travel trend with each passing year, and a few destinations seeing major ecological changes like intense temperatures and regular flooding have started to feel as if they could shortly be off-limits–making way for last-chance travel. From melting icefields and glaciers to Australia’s bleached and dying Great Barrier reef, travelers are putting out in droves to see things that may soon no longer be.
“Smart” Hotel Rooms
Have an Alexa at home? Welcome to the future: Hotel rooms are following suit ever because Aloft hotels incorporated voice-commanded rooms. “Smart” hotels may go much farther than rooms you can ask to “shut the blinds” or “turn off the lights” Robot room support has become available in some resorts, and tech-focused brands like Yotel are expanding to the United States.