2022 Travel Trends That Will Benefit Agritourism - Part 2
Welcome back! For those of you who missed the first part of our 2022 Travel Trends That Will Benefit Agritourism, you can read part 1 (including trends 1-5) here.
As a reminder, we’re using this last week of 2021 to take a look at how your agritourism product can take advantage of the top 2022 travel trends.
Many international companies and organizations, from Hilton to the UNWTO, have been sharing what they see as the major forces that will shape and define tourism in the year to come.
We’re looking down from these top-level trends to understand not only how they’ll affect you (the situation), but also how you can best prepare for them (the solution).
Let’s get onto the second half.
Growing Group Sizes
The situation: Identified by Audley Travel’s research, growing group sizes and increased spend enable tourists to travel with friends and loved ones in the way they want. This can be seen not just in their “average booking increasing from 2.4 passengers in 2019 to 2.6 passengers for trips booked in 2021” but to private accommodations, multigenerational family trips, and more.
The solution: Whether this trend is a reaction to families having a larger period of time without seeing each other or one that will last into the future, small projects can take advantage of this opportunity. When considering how people can book your trips, look at:
Is it possible to reserve private groups? If so, how clearly is this stated?
Would you consider a discount for groups of a certain size? If so, what size makes sense?
Future-Proof Your Business With Flexibility
The situation: As Orioly points out, the impacts of COVID-19 carry over to our ability to cancel our bookings is as important as it’s been over the past two years as “travelers are not going to commit to a reservation unless they are sure they can cancel for any reason.”
The solution: The idea of offering easy cancellations and a convenient rebooking policy is to remove any objections a tourist might have to booking with you. This can be achieved by stating clearly your policy before they book. In looking at your booking page or contact info, ask yourself:
Do I mention the rebooking or cancellation policy?
Is the process automatic, or will the tourist need to wait?
If so, how long?
A Year Of Unplugging To Find Connection
The situation: Though the pandemic has lessened some of the restrictions on whether or not people can work in their offices, more and more people are working from home. With 92% of workers believing they’ll have at least some work from home in the future, it’s a trend that’s here to stay. This can lead to issues separating work from leisure activities, suggesting that travel will become even more important in that regard.
The solution: The Expedia poll revealed this, too, with 36% of those surveyed wanting to find a sense of disconnect and contentment on their trip. While it can initially be seen as an obstacle to have a tourism site that is overly remote, recognize that there is a benefit, too. Think about how your project can reflect this idea of unplugging.
Is your agritourism project also a lodge or accommodation? Consider a photo of the night sky, full of stars, as one of your key images.
Is your project community-based? Try including a photo of a group talking or working together - without any phones or devices in sight.
Is your project way out in the wilderness? Embrace that openness with a photo of your project against the backdrop of a brilliant blue sky, an impressive mountain range, or the surrounding jungle.
Visitors Will Stay Longer
The situation: For a number of reasons, average trip lengths may grow in 2022. According to the UNWTO, this change can be considered a combination of both conscious travel and green travel, as tourists look to enjoy as much of each place they visit as possible while reducing unnecessary - and potentially wasteful - time in transit.
The solution: The destinations that will benefit with these extended trips are the ones with a more diverse offering of products and services. Each new day presents an opportunity for another way to get to know a part of a country, a new community to visit, a new story to hear. Consider how you can develop your idea - or collaborate with your community - to package an entire day.
Though you may have designed your activity to fit into a 2-hour time slot or a 4-hour time slot, what if tourists had a morning and afternoon with you?
Is there a natural attraction nearby your agricultural site you can package? Consider this Sipi Falls hike, coffee tour, and abseiling package as an example of how you can build out a small itinerary.
Tourists Will Be Eager To Learn
The situation: Another UNWTO recommendation is the increase of educational tourism, or ‘ed-ventures.’ While they frame it as a combination of education and holidays for young family members (say, for example, parents need to work, so the children can do workshops or learn), this sort of experiential tourism can also be viewed from a domestic perspective.
The solution: Consider the educational qualities of your agritourism project. There are likely ways you can position it both domestically and internationally.
Domestic: Have you built it in such a way, like a demonstration farm, that you could bring students from around your region to see it? Or around the country? Many schools have available buses that can transport their students directly to you, representing a regular source of revenue.
International: With the advent of platforms like Book Culinary Vacations, tourists are interested in learning to prepare local cuisines while they travel. While you may not be trying to compete with a one-week intensive Italian organic cooking program, you can offer a course in the morning, or throughout the day, to prepare your own local dishes.
We hope these 10 trends were useful to you as you plan your next year.
As this is the last letter we’ll send for 2021, we wish you all the best. We’ve seen some great responses in our first month together, and we’re confident that over the next year we’ll build an even more supportive and successful agritourism community together. As always, if there is anything we can do to support you, be it now or at some point in the future, please do let us know.
Until then!
Warmly,
Alex and Joseph