The tourism sector worldwide made significant gains in 2022, despite the global challenges and spiralling inflation. Air traffic recouped ground to reach 70 percent and international tourism is set to gain back 65 percent of pre–pandemic levels. The number of tourists worldwide reached 700 million in the first nine months of the year, more than double (+133 percent) during the same period in 2021, according to UNWTO.
These are healthy indicators and will add to traveller confidence. After being confined to their homes for nearly two years, people are eager to travel and explore, and 2022 saw revenge travel in full force.
While performance metrics are important, the real tourism fault lines will be drawn by thinking like a community and shaping experiences that are visceral to travellers.
That is also what makes the tourism and travel industry so dynamic, with the ability of destinations and travel service providers to be agile, relevant, and responsive making all the difference. And that is why I believe that 2023 will be the year where alternative, more flexible destinations take centre stage and where tourism and travel will unbundle itself.
It will also be a year where we take giant swings and throw out the playbook. It will call for travel service providers to be more in–tune to the people and the planet. That is why I call 2023 the year of the ‘no–normal.’
Year of the ‘no normal’
The most decisive shift in 2023 will be the pivot of the global traveller to explore off–the–beaten–track destinations. A survey by Booking.com reveals that global travellers want their travelling experiences to have a more back–to–basics feel, with half of respondents wanting to experience a complete culture shock in 2023 — be it travelling somewhere with completely different cultural experiences and languages or exploring lesser–known cities with hidden gems.
The desire for more meaningful human interactions, stemming from the lockdowns of recent years, will be a key driver for travel, with people seeking less crowded, more authentic destinations. As the GetYourGuide survey 2022 revealed, almost all travellers want to experience a destination ‘like a local’ — a sentiment stronger among the millennial generation.
Responsive and responsible tourism
The need for destinations and travel service providers to go green will be a defining shift. With the impact of climate change even more obvious now, it will no longer be enough for travel and hospitality businesses to treat sustainability as a ‘nice to have’.
Their focus will move beyond simple calls for ‘Leave No Trace’ with every tourism sector stakeholder called to embrace a strong Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) framework. No longer is it viable that a bland blanket of tourists come into a destination and just leave. That’s now been flipped on its head and tourists are just as responsible as the local community in leaving their environment better than they how they found it.
A key part of embracing ESG is accessible tourism. People with disability and special needs spend approximately $8 billion on tourism services annually, and the World Health Organisation estimate the number of people with disabilities will double to 2 billion by 2050. While many hotels have already embraced accessibility, 2023 will see destinations starting to re–evaluate their entire tourism eco–system — from taxis and public areas to beaches and attractions — and become truly accessible for the future.
This is certainly true for Ras Al Khaimah as we’ve engaged with accessibility experts to map out the consumer journey from the eyes of the traveller with a determined spirit and asked how we can truly embrace this important and relevant travel audience.
With this pivot towards more inclusive and sustainable travel, destinations of the future have an opportunity to shine in 2023 as travellers opt to avoid cookie–cutter vacations in touristy hot spots, and seek experiences in less explored and uncharted destinations.
Destinations of the future
Many of these more dynamic destinations have been the biggest winners post–pandemic, led by their agility and responsiveness — all quickly adapting to offer inspiring new experiences that cater for every kind of traveller.
Meanwhile, more traditional tourism destinations have been slow to adapt to the rapid pace of change as they are often forced to navigate red tape and bureaucracy. This results in delays in executing much needed change, especially in areas such as sustainability.
These destinations of the future can pivot quickly, with the empowerment and autonomy to get things done. They can work directly with travel and hospitality partners and stakeholders to implement change on a fundamental level, starting from the bottom up.
An example is here in Ras Al Khaimah with the US– based Wynn Resorts partnering to develop the first integrated resort of its kind in the region. The project is billed to usher in a new era of economic development through tourism and has already secured multi–billion–dollar foreign investment.
This can also be seen across smaller, specialist providers, including independent hotels and niche travel agencies. These boutique outfits can provide unique, hyper personalized experiences, resulting in some moving away from the mass–produced travel of the larger, legacy incumbents.
But what really matters is to be innovative and to do it right. We already see destinations innovating with tourism fees and looking at infrastructure development through crowdfunding, which will continue to transform the industry.
But even as these destinations of the future grow in popularity and attract more visitors, it is important to preserve what made them endearing in the first place — their off–grid appeal and agility.
As consumers increasingly say “no” to normal and seek to break routines, new tourism destinations and service providers will disrupt the industry for good. And this transformation is here to stay.
Raki Phillips, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKDA)
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