During a recent panel at the 2023 TravMedia Summit Asia held in Singapore to discuss approaches to travel stories, several lifestyle and travel journalists discussed how the travel landscape within Asia is changing.
Moderated by TravMedia’s founder and head Nick Wayland, it was travel journalists talking about “the good, the bad, and the ugly” sides of writing about travel.
“The definition of luxury travel is changing” said “Tatler Asia” Travel and Lifestyle Editor Coco Marett, attributing it to travelers prioritizing destinations’ quality of locations and privacy, among others.
Marett shared that less traveled countries like Bhutan are seeing a rise in tourism, while travel hotspots like Bali, Indonesia, and Phuket, Thailand, are now seen as destinations of authenticity rather than mere backpacker stops.
“Robb Report China” Senior Editor Vincent Zhang’s outlook on Asia travel is shifting to more nature-based traveling, giving sample activities like cycling or destinations that have minimal use of vehicles to be more in touch with the outdoors.
Other trends he sees rising are 2-3 hour city walks going around restaurants, markets, and museums in a given morning or afternoon, and the option for multigenerational travel that accommodates families.
These changing trends in travel are something the tourism sector in the Philippines should be taking note of, especially the smaller and newer destinations that are just starting to make their name known, which actually applies to most tourism attractions in Negros Island.
Improving the uniqueness and quality of the experience, shifting to greener and more nature-based activities, and interesting city walks are all something we can offer to tourists, and if our tourism sector does a good job, we can hopefully ride the wave of the current trends and give the tourism industry a much-needed boost that could even be sustainable.
There are benefits to monitoring trends in the industry, especially those that we can capitalize on to improve the way we do things. Hopefully the stakeholders of our tourism industry, both at the national and local levels, are taking notes and preparing action plans to maximize these developments.*
