Pune, India – 18 January 2017
‚DIY Trip Planning’ has set a new trend for 2016. Reviewing the trend set by travellers, who planned trips in 2016, the do-it-yourself planning seemed to be the most preferred choice for most of the travellers, especially the millennial travellers.
Focusing more on experiential travel, travellers chose to plan their trips meticulously, with more and more personalization and this has also impacted the choice of the destinations that the travellers preferred.
Summarizing the travellers’ data through users at TripHobo.com, there are some surprising elements of how travel evolved in 2016 and will continue to do so in 2017.
DIY Travellers of 2016
The majority of DIY trip plans came from countries like the United States, China and India. These countries are also predicted to be heading the leader-board for DIY plans in the coming year. European countries are also not far behind. Scandinavian countries Finland, Norway and Sweden show the highest per capita DIY trips. The across-the-board increase for DIY trips shows that this trend is here to stay. Surprisingly, the trend is growing faster in emerging markets.
Where People Travelled in 2016
The good old destinations like France and Italy were rock-solid on top positions, but surprisingly, there were new entrees to the list of most visited countries. More number of itineraries were planned to Japan and Russia as compared to previous years, which proves that travellers in 2016 were experimental in choosing the destinations. But this didn’t keep the crowds away from the popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Colosseum and they continued to be the most visited attractions in the world.
Type of Accommodation Preferred in 2016
While luxury vacations are gaining immense popularity, the trend observed in 2016 was striking. Travellers ditched the conventional hotel stay and preferred to book homestays and B&Bs instead. This is evident from the 31% increase in Bed and Breakfast bookings as compared to previous years. Among hotels, 3-star was the most preferred choice over luxury hotels with 62% choosing a 3-star accommodation.
How did the 2016 Traveller Plan Trips
According to the data of TripHobo users, an average of 62% travellers chose to plan a DIY trip whereas an average of 23% travellers chose to customize the plans created by other travellers on TripHobo. 14% of the travellers chose the conventional readymade packages.
This DIY trend shows that fewer travellers are opting for readymade travel packages as compared to the previous years. Longer trips were planned with more care compared to the shorter ones, as evidenced by the much higher number of revisions made to itineraries of longer durations.
Predictions for 2017
Travel as we know is going to transform in the coming years with an estimated 38% rise in the use of DIY trip plans. In terms of destinations, 36% travellers are predicted to choose offbeat places and experiences over conventional holiday destinations. The popularity of short trips continues to rise with a predicted growth rate of almost 50%. One third of the travellers are anticipated to opt for a solo trip while less than one sixth of the travellers are expected to plan an off-season trip to avoid crowd and surcharges. Homestays will continue to dominate accommodation choices with a growth of 14%.
Hot Destinations for 2017
European destinations like Reykjavik, Salzburg, Cork, Copenhagen and Ibiza are expected to receive a larger influx of tourists in early 2017. Asian destinations like Leh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands might also garner a lot of tourist interest. Off-beat places like Mongolia and Bucharest are anticipated to see more crowds than usual whereas the popular destinations like Naples and Lisbon will continue to see more crowds.
So, what’s your idea of the perfect trip?