Travel Experts Executives at Summit (Photo Credit: Travel Experts)
03.01.2024 - 18:49 / skift.com / Tom Hale / Selene Brophy
Operators of adventure travel tours expect 2024 to bring more demand for private group trips and more bookings during shoulder seasons.
Many active adventure travelers will seek personal enrichment beyond physical endurance challenges. Tour operators will also address a growing appetite for itineraries that take guests off the beaten track in more personalized ways.
Here are seven trends to watch in adventure travel during 2024, according to leading players in the sector.
September and October, the Northern Hemisphere’s traditional shoulder season, became the most popular months for adventure travel in 2023. Expect that trend to continue this year.
Booking data detailed in TourRadar’s 2023 organized adventure travel report showed these months replaced 2019’s peak departure period of June, July, and August.
Leisure travelers are continuing to shift the timing of their trips to coincide with cooler weather and better rates of the shoulder season, according to TourRadar’s booking data based on 50,000 active itineraries in over 160 countries.
Backroads founder and CEO Tom Hale said the company was seeing a rise in popularity for private active adventure group travel during the shoulder season.
“Travelers are looking to avoid peak crowds and enjoy milder weather,” said Hale, whose U.S.-based tour operator specializes in multi-adventure trips, including biking, hiking, and walking.
Private group tours, where only a chosen set of friends or families are included, can often be booked at prices comparable to Backroads’ regular tours, depending on the group size. In 2023, Backroads’ average active adventure trip length was between 5 and 6 nights, with an average cost of $5,077.
“We are seeing increased interest from families with kids of all ages wanting to travel together and share experiences instead of things,” said Hale.
Backroads has launched family-centric tours to destinations like Argentina, the Czech Republic, Alaska, and Iceland to meet demand in 2024. It previously only catered to couples, friends, and solo travelers in these destinations.
Overall, adventure travel bookings in Europe are still below 2019 levels, TourRadar said. Yet certain countries such as Portugal, Albania, Slovenia, Norway, and Finland have experienced notable growth recently.
This rising interest in Northern European destinations might be partly attributed to climate change effects like heat waves and wildfires, which may be making Southern Europe a bit less appealing for adventure tourism.
Norway topped the list for Backroad’s forward bookings for Europe in 2024, as travelers are “drawn to its fjords and the Lofoten Islands.”
“We’re finding that travel to Northern Europe is more popular as Americans who have previously
Travel Experts Executives at Summit (Photo Credit: Travel Experts)
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